The Will to Live
by Kira Ultima
Summary: The battle at the Valley of the End, ended differently, and through a stroke of chance, Uzumaki Naruto finds himself in another world, facing new challenges, new feelings, old rivals, and the End of the World. Can he weather the storm, and keep his precious people safe from a collapsing world, and from himself, or will he fail.
1. Surprising End, New Beginning

**The Will to Live**

I do not own Naruto or HOTD. Enjoy.

Chapter I

"Surprising End, New Beginning"

-TWTL-

* * *

The stone faces of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju glared deeply into each other, untouched by time, much like the two crimson red eyes, one pair slitted, the other with a familiar coma like pattern, did.

Two teenage boys, both looking to be around thirteen years old, stood on opposite sides of the legendary Valley, the Valley of the End. The site of the legendary battle between two God like Shinobi, Hashirama and Madara. The very place they stood, used to be covered with trees, flowers, animals, and life.

Now, it was a gray crater, overrun with an endless amount of water. A testimony to the power the two possessed. No amount of time could heal the scar left behind by these two. Now, it seemed as if another battle of just as much proportion was taking place.

On one side stood a blonde haired teen, wearing a strange bright colored orange and blue jumpsuit. His hair was long and shaggy, and deep crimson red eyes, with demonic like slits reflected anger, betrayal, sadness, and determination. On his cheeks, the strangest birth marks. Three thick and dark lines, on each cheek were curled up, responding to the snarl on the blondes face, as fangs larger than the normal humans poked out, blood leaking from the corners of his mouth. The teen looked much like a fox, but the strangeness did not stop there. Over his hunched over body, was an orange and red cloak of sort, energy bubbling off of it, above his head were two long rabbit like ears, and behind him, was a long and slender tail, both formed out of the energy surrounding him.

This was Uzumaki Naruto.

Across from him was an equally twisted visage. Long dark, almost purple like hair, with two long bangs framed the face of the Sharingan wielding Uchiha, as a snarl was placed on his face, a dark cross like, resembling a four pointed star was placed right above his nose, over sickly gray skin. The teens dark blue shirt was ripped and tattered, and his white shorts stained with blood. From his back, a pair of wings, if they could even be called that as they resembled more of a pair of hands, complete with extended nails and webs connecting the fingers, cast a shadow over the young teen.

This was Uchiha Sasuke.

The only thing these two at the very moment had in common were strong ideals, and a piece of cloth with a metallic plate placed on their foreheads. Carved on the plate was a leaf of sorts, stating that these two twisted Shinobi belonged to none other than the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Konoha.

Crimson slitted eyes narrowed as they glared into the equally menacing eyes of the twisted Sharingan. To him, the sound of the roaring waters, the numb feeling in his right hand.

His skin smoking from the toxic power that consumed his body.

The metallic taste of blood.

The searing soreness and pain of his injured flesh.

His damp hair sticking to his sweaty scalp, and stained with blood.

The blurriness in his vision.

The dark voice that repeatedly whispered in the back of his head, telling him to murder the person before him, to end his pathetic existence.

The cold air brushing against him.

None of it mattered. The only thing that mattered was here and now.

"**Sasuke...**" His voice was low and dark, sounding as if two people were speaking at the same time.

From the other side, the Uchiha made a 'tch' sound, and moved to stand from his crouched position.

"What? You going to babble even more about bonds and such. I told you Naruto, the time for words is done. We settle this, here, and now."

A small smirk grew on the purple tinted lips of the Avenger as he spoke those words, a feeling of complete ecstasy overwhelmed his being as the power from his Cursed Seal flowed through out every inch of his body, the sharp pain in his shoulder almost completely gone.

"**Don't do this Sasuke, just come back with me!**"

The small smirk left the winged warriors face in the blink of an eye.

"Do you think I'm going back now? After all of this?" he gestured to the ruined landscape, the blood stained waters, but most importantly, he gestured to them. To their transformations, to their power, and to the true meaning behind this battle.

A battle of wills, to see who's fire burned brighter, his vengeance, or their bond.

Two warriors, two friends, two brothers.

"No...it's too late to turn back. You see Naruto, this was our destiny. Just as the two who battled here before us, and the never ending water, signifying an endless cycle tells, so are we, destined to fight, until one of us can no longer go on."

Naruto remained silent, but a low growl emitted from his throat.

"Your silence tells me everything I need to know. You can feel it just as much as I do, this is meant to be. You hate it, but you can't deny it."

The whiskered teen snarled even more, his mouth parting as steam rose from the back of his throat.

"**Maybe you're right...maybe this is meant to be.**" he spoke as he raised his good hand, the sharp nails, that resembled more of demon claws than anything else flexed, as a bubbling mass began to grow from nothing."**You're still a fool. If you would have shown up on time to the Exams, you would have seen me kick 'destiny' all over the place. Just like I did then, I'll do it now!**"

The mass in his hand began to glow a bright blue, and took on circular shape, as a small male storm raged from within it. It soon changed however, as the orange and red cloak began to invade the bright blue ball of energy, turning it into a sickly purple and red color, the sound of howling winds echoing from all around it.

Sasuke smirked at the teen, and crouched down, gripping his right hand tightly, from no where, bright streaks of pure white energy began to grow, soon enough his hand was swallowed by a streak of pure white energy, with tints of blue, the sound of thousands of chirping birds echoing through out the Valley.

However, just as Narutos attacked responded to his energy, so did Sasukes.

The white mass turned a sickening black, and the chirping, morphed into screeching.

Time seemed to slow down as the two locked eyes. Then, in the blink of an eye, they charged.

"Naruto!"

Sasuke cried as he cocked his hand back.

"**Sasuke!**" the blonde followed, his good arm following the Uchihas lead.

Everything stopped.

The two extended their hands, and called out their respective techniques names.

"Chidori!"

"**Rasengan!**"

The two corrupted attacks collided, and the world around them exploded in a brilliant show of lights. The screeching of birds, and the sound of howling winds echoed through the whole valley, the water underneath them picked up speed as waves began to flow. Cracks appeared on the Earth around them, it seemed as if the two were shaking the very foundation of the Valley.

From in between the two attacks, a bright orb formed, and it slowly began to expanded swallowing the two young Shinobi whole.

From within the orb of light, the two stood facing each other, on invisible ground.

They looked completely different however, instead of red eyes, a ocean blue stared into onyx black. Blonde hair was shorter, and the whisker like marks thinner. Fangs no longer extended from outside of his lips, and no longer was a fiery cloak of Demonic Chakra over him.

As for Sasuke, long bangs were shorter, as well as raven colored hair, the end curling up into multiple spikes. The star shaped mark no longer over his nose, and his skin was no longer a sick gray. The hand shaped wings were gone, leaving two large tears behind his shirt.

The two did nothing but stare into each others eyes, slowly, they both took a step forward, and extended their hands, the index finger and middle finger out. Then, both hands connected, and a small smile made its way onto both of their faces.

For a second, a younger version of the two stood in their place, and in the blink of an eye, they were gone.

The orb began to grow even more, anything that touched it slowly giving away to its power. Cracks began to form from the middle, and slowly but surely, the two were shown, both attacks still pressed against each other until they finally broke.

Slitted eyes narrowed as Naruto tilted his hand up, avoiding the Uchihas heart, and let the Rasengan fade away, his nails scratching a deep gash through Sasukes headband. Sasuke grunted and let his attack fade as well, before forming his extended hand into a fist, that slammed into the blondes chest, but instead of piercing it, only left a light bruise. The energy of the orb began to slowly fade and flux, tendrils of energy shout out into random spots.

In the center the two gripped each others hands and pulled close, both knowing full well that the battle was not over. With their hands interlocked, and their feet floating in mid air, the two did the most logical thing they could, rearing their heads back, they slammed their foreheads full force into each other for a powerful headbutt.

Unknowingly channeling the last remainder of their Chakra outwards in a powerful pulse.

The unstable Orb of energy reacted to the powerful Chakra pulse and began to shake wildly. This was all happening before the eyes of a silver haired masked Shinobi, as he watched his two students fight to the death, or what it seemed like to him.

The Orb began to react even more violently, shooting upwards into a column of pure white light, as the two Shinobi within fell slowly to the ground. The column began to expand, as the silver haired Shinobi raised the headband that covered one of his eyes, revealing a familiar coma like pattern.

"_Shit! Naruto, Sasuke!_"

The Jonin moved quickly, evading random blasts of pure energy from the Orb, watching as whatever the energy touched, disappeared completely, however it was too late.

In a bright flash of light, that momentarily halted him, the two young Shinobi were gone, along with the orb. The Valley was completely silent, as the tall man fell to his knees in shock.

That day, Hatake Kakashi cried for this first time in years.

That day, the course of history was changed forever.

-TWTL-

* * *

Naruto screamed as he felt his body being pulled from all over in random directions. It felt as if his arms and legs, hell, everything was tied to multiple horses, and they were all racing in opposite directions, he could feel even his insides twisting and being ripped apart.

From a distance he could hear Sasukes screams of pain as well, meaning they were both caught in this spiraling tunnel. He could feel his body being tossed around, like he was suck in some sort of tornado, yet he could see nothing, because if he opened his eyes, the intense white light would blind him.

He had no Chakra left, and he could feel the foxes Chakra working at an incredible rate to keep him from being ripped apart.

"_Is this it...?"_ the teen mused to himself.

He had never felt such an overwhelming pain, his mind was literally on the brink of shutting down. Images danced before him, of his friends, his adventures, his goals, his nindo. The teen growled at himself, at his weakness.

"_No! I can't give up now!_"

As his will grew stronger, the blonde felt a new power coursing through him, stronger than anything he had felt before. In the endless white, his body began to glow with a silver energy. It consumed him, and before he knew it, the pain stopped.

The teen felt a strange tingling in his eyes, before finally succumbing to his body's wish, and falling into a blissful sleep. The last words he heard were that of the fox trapped within him, whispering a single word that would forever change his life.

"**Rinnegan..**".

-TWTL-

* * *

Takagi Saya was a strange girl.

From birth, she was gifted with a high intellect. Advancing faster than most kids her age. It did not stop there however, unlike most people, she was also born with light bubble gum pink hair, making her even stranger in the eyes of others.

As a child, the children used to pick on her for her strange hair color, and as she grew older, her body grew as well, faster than most girls her age. She developed quickly, and young boys her age, and even older noticed.

Between the negative attention, and the lust crazed attention she got, she learned to keep to herself, and use her intellect to defend herself from the world. Sure, she had some friends, such as Komuro Takashi, a childhood friend, and her developing crush, not that she would admit to that, but yes, she was a strange girl indeed.

Which is why tonight she found herself leaning over her rooms balcony. Yes, balcony, you see, her house was a Mansion, and her family was rich. Another thing to add to her strangeness.

Her golden brown eyes gazed at the star filled sky, searching for nothing in particular, more like enjoying the peace and quiet.

"_In less than a month, I will be attending High School._" the pink haired teen mused.

Her face was set in a bored expression.

"_Most kids would be excited, or nervous._"

She let a smirk frame her perfect face.

"_Good thing I'm not most kids._"

Letting out a yawn, and stretching her hands outwards, she looked at the dark forest that surrounded her home. She had always been slightly afraid of the dark. It was cold, and unknown territory.

Saya hated the unknown, she hated what she could not understand. She was a genius, capable of out smarting her teachers, even University teachers. So not knowing, being in the dark, was a fear, and she hated it.

With an elegant twist, she took a single step forward, until a sudden breeze passed her by, it was surprisingly strong too, as it lifted her small pony tails, and made them flutter uncontrollably. Her eyes narrowed suddenly, and her mind raced.

"_That's strange, there should be no kind of strong winds tonight."_.

Suddenly, her balcony rocked, almost as if an Earthquake hit it. The force of the shake made her fall to her knees, from behind her, a bright flash occurred, illuminating the darkness around her.

Her eyes to widened in fear, and she curled into a ball, her hands over her head for protection.

"_W-What the hell is going on!_ _Did someone let off a bomb?" _

From the open glass door, her mother and father rushed out. Her father was a large and powerful man, with a hardened face and dark hair. He was tall and muscular and in his hand was a long Katana.

Her mother had a darker shade of pink hair, and soft eyes, although you could see much experience within them. In her hand was small pistol, fully loaded, gripped tightly, finger on the trigger encase anything was to happen.

These two were Takagi Soichiro and Takagi Yuriko.

"Saya!"

Yuriko cried as she ran to her daughters side.

Placing her hands over her daughters shoulder and back, she helped the slightly shocked girl up, and dusted her off, while Soichiro cried orders into his phone.

"I want every available guard on the premisses to surrounded the western part of the field, don't allow anyone in or out. I want to know what the hell just happened and what is going on! Understood!"

The pink haired teen sighed, and gave her mother a small nod.

"I'm fine mom."

She could feel the older woman give a sigh of relief.

"Come on, lets get inside." she cooed.

With a slow nod, the two entered the room, Soichiro following closely behind. They walked down the large steps, as Saya watched personnel run wildly around, serving their purpose, and following her fathers orders.

From the large double doors, a single man stepped out. She recognized him as her fathers second in command, his name however escaped her.

"Sir! The area has been effectively closed off...however there is a problem.."

"Well, what is it?"

The man appeared to swallow, before speaking.

"Sir...there is a boy in the middle of a large crater. He is gravely injured.."

Soichiros eyes narrowed, and his expression hardend.

"_A child._" he thought.

With speed and grace, he sheathed his blade, and motioned for some near by men to come to him.

"You three. Stand guard over my wife and daughter." his eyes turned back to his second in command.

"Take me to the child."

If you asked Saya what possessed her to speak that very second, she could not tell you why, but she did.

"Wait! Daddy, take me with you! I want to see him!"

Soichiro looked towards his daughter, and glared into her eyes, she did not flinch. Something burned inside of her, and he knew he would not win a verbal argument at this very moment, it would do nothing but waste precious time.

"Very well. Yuriko, stay close to our daughter. You three, you're job is still to protect them."

The three saluted, and the group stepped out of the Mansion.

Saya continued to watch the hired guard work as if they were trained soldiers. The three stepped into a large car, and she sat between her father and mother. She could hear the engine start, but that was the only sound made through out the small trip.

Her mother squeezing her tightly, and the small looks her father sent her way were enough to let her know they were worried, and that she was safe, they need not speak.

Imagines danced past her, until the car finally stopped, and they stepped out.

Small fires rang out in the clearing, and men with guns were stationed everywhere, while some surrounded a shadowed figure. What surprised her however was the crater the downed figure lay in, it was bigger than a regular swimming pool, meaning that the landing was not a soft one. She wouldn't be surprised if the person was dead.

"He's breathing!" one of the men cried.

Her eyes winded, that was impossible. Leaving the safety of her parents, for her curiosity she rushed towards the crater

"Move!" she hollered, her fathers side taking over, as she yelled commands.

The men, knowing who she was, and seeing their leader and his lady walking calmly behind her, did as they were told. Saya shoved the last person aside, and gazed at the center of the crater.

Her eyes widened.

There was a boy, looking about thirteen, a year younger than her, with spiky blonde hair, that was currently stained with dirt and blood. He wore a bright orange jumpsuit, that was stained with even more blood and grime. His body was smoking, and he was bleeding from his mouth, nose, and even ears, the strangest thing was the blood that fell from his eyes, almost like tears.

She was shocked, and frozen from the child's condition. Her breath hitched when a single finger twitched, and slowly, one eye opened. She expected blue eyes, thinking he was European or American from his distinct hair color, but no, what she saw was hypnotizing, breathtaking, it defied all logic.

His eyes were a purple like gray, with a several rings surrounding the pupil.

His mouth opened slowly as he gazed at her still form.

"S-Sakura-chan..." he mumbled weakly.

Then, his eyes closed one more, she could have sworn he was dead, if not for the faint heaving of his chest. She felt her mothers warm arms cover her, and steer her head away from the scene, she heard her father give out even more orders, it did not matter however, her eyes were still wide in shock, those rippled eyes imprinted in her memory.

Her life, just changed completely, and she had a feeling she was not the only one.

-TWTL-

* * *

Well, what do you think. Give it a chance, review and tell me if I should give this a shot. Before you start, no Naruto will not be God like, several factors will take place, that will explain everything gin future chapters. Yes, Naruto will be one year younger than everyone else, but it will all work out. Anyway, Review. Later.


	2. Nine and Four

**The Will to Live **

I do not own Naruto or HOTD. Enjoy. Please excuse any minor grammar and spelling mistakes, I need a beta, if anyone is interested, let me know.

Chapter II

"Nine and Four"

-TWTL-

* * *

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Ocean blue eyes opened to a familiar setting. Dark hollow pathways, rusty walls stained with a dark liquid. Naruto would rather not find out what the liquid was.

His hands stayed completely dry, as did the rest of his body, even though he was submerged in a murky water. His blonde hair was darker, as was the rest of his body, the darkness of the sewer like area seemed to wrap around his very being, sucking the life out of the bright colors he wore.

From above, there was a complicated system of pipes, some big, some small, interlocked with each other, from some you could see a slight blue tint, while the others had a red glow. However, there seemed to be a new addition. In the very center, was a long, straight pipe, that pulsed with a silver and purple like energy.

"_That's new.._" the teen mused to himself.

Standing up, he took in his surroundings once more, before turning his eyes to the long, seemingly endless single corridor before him that was obscured in darkness. With a gulp, the blonde to a single step forward.

From nowhere, a giant wave of pure red burning Chakra washed over him, freezing him on the spot, the amount of killing intent made his throat dry, and his pupils dilate, while the rest of his body tensed in preparation. Squeezing his eyes shut, and steeling his resolve, the blonde moved once more, taking another step, although this one felt much heavier as the pressure pushed down on him, trying to force him to his knees.

His ocean blue eyes hardened, and he began to leak his own Chakra, coating himself in a blue energy, it wasn't much against the overwhelming red Chakra, but it helped. With a deep breath, the blonde continued forward, knowing what he would face on the other side.

His very own personal demon.

The Kyubi no Kitsune.

As he walked, the darkness before him seemed to slowly but surely consume his vision, strange as it was the blonde still knew the way. One final step, and in bright flash of light, blue eyes focused once more on a large empty room, solid square walls surrounded him on every side.

The murky waters were still the same, but a sort of mist hovered above them. Multiple pipes were placed throughout the ceiling and the walls, above, him, the main silver pipe was still there, although it seemed to intertwine with the red and blue pipes as well.

All of that was minor detail however, the biggest eye catcher was the tall cell that stood before him. In the center, a small paper tag with the words seal written in kanji.

Naruto inhaled once more, his eyes visibly hardening as he took a single step forward. In the blink of an eye, the large pressure was on him once more, this time full force. The whiskered teen fell to his knees as his eyes widened once more, his mouth opening as he gasped for air. From the cage, a red mist began to flow, it seemed to clear a path through the mist as it made its way towards the blonde.

Naruto watched as the bubbly mass of energy circled him, and he felt himself being lifted up from the murky waters. Drawing upon his inner power, the blue aura surrounded the blonde once more, and he found the strength to move.

Flailing his arms around, as the red mass of energy closed in around him, the teen managed to free himself and fell into the waters with a splash. Just in time too, from the cage, a giant furred claw slammed some of the spaces between the bars. The claw was bigger than a house, and could probably crush one like an insect as well.

"**Human...**" a low and dark voice growled.

It sent ripples into the very waters the blonde was now sitting in, frozen by the pair of slowly opening crimson slitted eyes before him. This was his second time meeting the fox, and he couldn't believe how forgot how overwhelming it was to be in its presence.

"_Shit..._" the teen thought "_This power, it feels like I'm being suffocated._"

With the opening of the crimson eyes, a row of sharp and pearly white teeth followed. Each one bigger than a fully grown human. A red glow began to outline a figure twice as large as the Hokage building. Orange fur, long rabbit like ears, with a black strip that surrounded the blood red eyes. Finally, nine long and slender tails floating lazily behind it.

This was the most powerful of the Tailed Beasts.

This was the Kyubi no Kitsune.

"**You dare face me, after what you have just done. You idiotic fool!**" the beast growled out.

Now, Naruto was known for allot of things, two of the most well know qualities were one, his lack of respect for authority and power, and two, his short temper.

As if forgetting that he was facing the most powerful being in the Elemental Nations, the whiskered blonde stood and raised his fist, shaking it menacingly at the endless ocean of Chakra before him.

"Who the hell are you calling an idiot!" the teen roared, a vain popping above his head, as his eyes suddenly lost their color and turned large and white in a comical fashion.

Kyubi growled once more, before the snarl on the foxes face turned into a smirk of sorts.

"**I'm calling you an idiot. Now then, if you know whats good for you, you will silence your pathetic self, or else..**" the fox stopped, and left it hanging.

Naruto growled, much like the fox did.

"You can't do anything to me! The Fourths seal will stop you!"

"**True, it will stop me from devouring your pathetic human self, but what is stopping me from crushing you mentally, and leaving your body nothing but a brainless vegetable.**"

The fox may have forgotten to mention that if it were to do that, then the blondes body would shut down, which would mean he would die, but he could have some fun as well, besides, dying was something the Nine Tailed beast refused to do.

Naruto let his arm drop, and sweat fall from his scalp.

"Y-Yeah well!...If I become a vegetable, then I'll be easy pickings, remember our deal, if I die, you die!"

Kyubi blinked, and stared at the orange and blue coated teen.

"_**Well, maybe he isn't so stupid.**_" it mused.

"Besides, like you could do that to the future Hokage! Uzumaki Naruto-sama!"

Take back, the fox didn't know whether it wanted to sweat drop at his containers foolishness, or crush him for it.

The crushing sounded nice though.

"_**This seal, I have never hated something more in my life...well expect Madara, but it's about a tie**_."

The giant fox retracted his claw, and placed it before him, then laid his head down on it.

"**You might want to get a new goal in life human.**"

Confusion swept the blondes features.

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about fox!"

Crimson eyes glared at the much smaller figure, before closing them.

"**If I wasn't so drained from keeping us alive, you would regret speaking to me as if you were my equal. Lucky for you, I had to use almost all of my power to keep your body from being torn to shreds.**"

Naruto opened his mouth once more, but suddenly stopped, the phantom pains of the 'tunnel of doom' as he calls it, fresh in his memory.

"Kyubi...what was that?" he asked, voice suddenly quieter.

A single slitted eye opened, the fox watched the teen carefully.

"**That was a rift. My Chakra is potent enough to cause tears in dimensions, it is how I escape the eye of the world, and rest in my own. You're Chakra, which is arguably potent for a humans and the **_**Uchihas**_** cursed Chakra were already damaging the dimensional barriers, when you added my Chakra into the mix, you created the orb that transported you both to a smaller pocket dimension." **

Naruto did not miss how he snarled when he mentioned Uchiha.

** "It only lasted a second, and you were both free. However, when you decided to headbutt each other as a final decisive attack, you both unknowingly sent out a powerful pulse of Chakra that destabilized the rift. It went out of control, and you two were in the middle of it. Without my Chakra, you would have been torn to shreds and scattered across the multiple dimensions.**"

Naruto gave the fox a blank stare.

"**You have no idea what I just said do you boy?**"

"You lost me at dimensions."

With a growl, the fox opened both eyes and raised its head, bringing it closer to the bars.

"**You fucked up, now, we're in another world with no way of returning to our ****original one. No becoming Hokage, no date with that pink haired loud mouth you're so infatuated with, no more of that perverted sensei of yours or the Toad Sage, no more of the big breasted blonde, no more Rookie Nine, no more Shinobi. The chances of that Uchiha surviving are slim to none. You, are alone.**"

Suddenly, it felt as if the world landed on his shoulders. Naruto fell to ground, his expression frozen, his eyes reflected disbelief, horror, fear, anger, and pain.

The word alone continued to swim around in his head. His body began to flow with a silver energy once more. The teen felt his eyes burning, and tears began to fall.

The Kyubi watched this all with growing interest, the familiar Chakra of his 'father' began to overshadow his own.

Naruto tilted his head back, and screamed.

The scream morphed into a roar, almost similar to the Kyubis very own.

The murky waters began to shake, and red Chakra from behind the cage flowed outwards towards the blonde. His whisker marks began to grow darker once more, and his eyes morphed, his blue eyes dissolved into purple, and from his pupil multiple rings began to surround it extending all the way to the ends of his eye.

The change did not stop there however, the pupil morphed into a slit, and the eye took on a red hue. The walls began to shake, and the pipes that ran along them began to glow and pulse even more.

"_**Shit! He's having a mental breakdown!**_" the fox thought to itself.

The fox began to pull back its energy, the raw anger and pain the teen was releasing was attracting his own Chakra to him.

The energy feeding off of the negative emotions.

"**Boy! Calm down! There's no use destroying yourself over this! This is a new chance for you and me! No one knows of us, you can start fresh. Free all the promises and burdens placed on you!"**

Naruto continued to scream, his features morphing even more, his skin pealing back revealing blood and tissue. The seal began to tear as the blonde drew on even more power.

-TWTL-

* * *

From the outside, it had been a day or two since Narutos body had been found, it was currently being held in one of the underground rooms in the estate. The room was made exclusively for situations that arose in Japan, such as Tsunamis or any other form of danger.

The teens body began to morph and change once more, power began to radiate from every inch of his body, making the room itself shake, tables and chairs fell over, the very floor underneath the unconscious blonde began to crack from the power. The machines connected to the blonde were beeping quickly.

From above, the ground began to shake as well, the residents of the house hold fell over and quickly grabbed on to whatever they could, believing it to be a powerful Earthquake.

Soichiro was away on a business trip, mostly to handle any media that would try and discover what had transpired two days ago, and Yuriko and Saya we're also away both taking a mother daughter shopping trip to ease their minds.

The only residents of the Takagi house hold were the guards, cooks, and maids.

The tremor did not stop there however, all across the Tokonosu District people could feel the Earth shaking. A young purple haired woman holding a wooden Katana fell over as her father rushed to her side. Another young woman with long brown hair walking with her mother fell over as well, her mother gripping her tightly and ducking for cover as the streets shook.

At the Central Mall, Saya and Yuriko felt the quake as well, and rushed for safety. A young teen with black hair ran inside his house for cover, while another young man with brown hair holding a water gun dropped to the ground and covered his head.

In a small office, under a table was a buxom blonde, her hands covering her head, and her chest bouncing up and down as the Earth shook.

On a small playground, a little girl was rushed inside a near by building while a small dog barked at nothing.

Back in the underground room, the walls were already forming huge cracks, and the room itself was covered in a red hue. Narutos body was shaking uncontrollably, and even more of his skin began to peel back, from around him, a bone white substance began to form.

-TWTL-

* * *

Kyubi continued to pull back its energy as the seal grew weaker and weaker, the blondes screams grew louder, and his power grew immensely.

"_**Shit! Why does this have to happen now! I can't even use this to my advantage with how weak I am!.**_" the fox thought.

Naruto continued to scream, and the seal continued to falter and weaken, the fox could feel how many tails of Chakra we're being drawn into the blonde.

"**Seven! He's going to blow himself and everything else around him to pieces if this continues!**" it roared.

Naruto however was more focused on his rage, his anger.

Thirteen years of pain and misery, and he was finally starting to make friends, and now it's all gone again.

He was all alon-

"My, what a mess." A smooth and deep voice rang out.

A rough but soft hand was placed against the burning shoulder of the emotionally wrecked teen.

From inside the cage, the Kyubis eyes were widened at the man before him.

Spiky blonde hair, and familiar blue eyes. A long white coat fluttered behind him. On the back, the kanji for Fourth.

Naruto suddenly stopped screaming, the strange mans hand oddly comforting.

"**Yondaime.**" the fox uttered.

Suddenly, Narutos world was enveloped in a white light, and he found himself in a plane very much like the one he and Sasuke were trapped in. His appearance was back to normal, and he faced one of the greatest men to ever walk the Shinobi world.

The Fourth Hokage.

"Hello Naruto." the man spoke with a warm smile.

A smile he had soon many times, it was a smile usually reserved for someone special, he had seen it many times before when a father would smile at a son.

"Y-Yondaime.." the teen stuttered.

The tall blonde gave a chuckle.

"Yes, although you can call me Minato. Although I would much rather prefer if you called me dad."

Just like that, the teens mind snapped.

Naruto began to laugh nervously, before full blow outright laughing hysterically.

"Alright. This is great, I must have died. My father? The Fourth Hokage? Hahaha! If this is Heaven, then where is all the free Ramen."

He was surprised when the older blonde gave out a hearty laugh.

"Ramen! You're our son alright."

Naruto blinked a couple of times, and then stood from his sitting position.

"This isn't a dream is it?" he asked.

Minato shook his head a no.

"I'm not dead am I?"

Again, another no.

"Then...you really are my dad..?" he asked.

Minato gave him a warm smile, and a small nod.

Naruto lowered his head and felt his knuckles grow white as he clenched his hands tightly. His hair shadowed his eyes, but you could see the tears that slowly began to fall.

The Fourth frowned and stepped forward, closer to his son.

"Naruto, I'm sor-"

He was cut off by the blonde suddenly chuckling, and raising his head a wide grin on his face as he wiped the tears away with the back of his hand.

"My dad...is the Fourth Hokage!" The chuckling exploded into laughter.

"Take that Sasuke-teme and you're mighty Uchiha bullshit!"

Minato stared at his son with wide eyes, before a smile settled on his face.

A sharp pain exploded from his stomach, and in the blink of an eye he found his sons fist buried into it.

"That, was for putting me through hell."

Narutos arms wrapped around the much larger mans body, and he brought him in to a hug.

"This is for...I don't know..I-I.."

Minato wrapped his arms around the thirteen year old and squeezed tightly.

"It's okay...I'm sorry Naruto, for putting you through all of that."

The older blonde listened to his sons quiet sobs, and rubbed his back in a comforting way.

"But here you are, safe and in one piece. Stronger than I could have ever hoped for. I placed Kyubi with you, because I knew only _my_ son would be able to bear the hatred, and come out fine."

He felt Narutos grip tighten, and he could not help the tears that fell from his cheeks. This was what he wanted, to be able to hold his child.

"I've always been watching. From you're very first steps, to you're very first mission. I've always been there. Not how I would have wanted, but it was enough."

The two let go, and blue eyes stared into blue.

"I placed Kyubi with you, because I felt only you could handle the immense power. You seen, when your mother-"

"My mother.." the teen whispered "What was her name?"

"Uzumaki Kushina. She was as fierce as she was beautiful. She loved you very much, as did I. We both loved you more than the world itself."

Naruto gave a smile at that. His parents did love him. He had never felt so happy in his life.

"As I was saying. When your mother gave birth to you, there were some...complications."

Minatos expression grew serious.

"The night of your birth, a masked man infiltrated the village. He had brought the Kyubi under his control, and sent it on a wild rampage. He was the reason the fox attacked. I did battle with him, and learned some things from it. He is incredibly powerful, bending time and space to his will. His most important attribute however, was his Sharingan."

Narutos breath hitched at the mention.

"He was an Uchiha, an incredibly powerful one, and there was only Uchiha that I know of with the power to control Kyubi. Uchiha Madara."

"Uchiha Madara.." the teen repeated.

He had heard of him from the Academy, and from Sasuke. The most powerful Uchiha, and a God amongst Shinobi.

"Yes, somehow he lived. On the night of your birth, I had no choice but to seal the fox. At the time, I had an idea. You see Naruto, to face such a foe. One would need immense power. The Kyubi was a force of near infinite power. So, I gifted that power to you my son, so that when you would face Madara. You would be even more prepared. For I have no doubt that even without the fox, you would grow to be an incredibly powerful Shinobi."

Naruto continued to listen to his father, his ego growing as he slightly puffed his chest out with pride.

Minato chuckled at that, and ruffled his sons hair.

"However, I did not factor in that you would cross worlds." he spoke "That doesn't change anything. Wherever you may go, there will always be hatred and evil, Jiraiya-sensei told me once that I was to bring a major change to the world, he said I was to finally bring peace. However, he was wrong. I don't think its me. I think its you Naruto. You who will bring peace to the world." he finished.

Narutos eyes widened as he gazed up at his father, those same ocean blue eyes reflect unyielding belief. Belief in him, his son.

"My time is running out Naruto, but know this. I love you. I always will. I believe in you. I _know_ you can do it. Wherever you may go or end up, I know you can bring change, for the better. After all-"

"I am your son," the smaller blonde finished with a wide grin.

Minato matched his grin.

The world around them began to dissolve, and they found themselves back in the cage, although things seemed to be much calmer. The Yondaime turned to the cage and placed on hand on the seal, the paper began to glow, and was returned to prime condition.

"Kyubi...take care of him." the Fourth whispered.

The fox gazed at the man that was the cause of his anger, then at the shocked blonde as he watched the hole in his stomach seal up, and the familiar markings of his seal glow.

"**Very well. I may hate you, but I have always sensed something familiar from that child. His awakening of those eyes proves it.**"

Minato gave a grateful nod, and turned to his oblivious son, his eyes lingering on the blondes very own for a second.

"Naruto, when you wake up, I will have left somethings for you. I sealed them within your old seal. Now, my time is up. Remember. I love you son."

His eyes turned to the giant fox behind the newly formed cage.

"You two place nice now." he stated with a grin.

Naruto watched his father slowly disappear, his eyes showing nothing but pure determination.

"_I promise you dad, I will not let you down._"

As if reading his sons mind, Minato gave him a smile that said "I know you won't" before vanishing completely, leaving only the smaller blonde and the fox behind.

"**Things are always interesting with you boy.**" the fox commented.

Naruto gave a wide grin. He began to scan himself, noticing that for some reason, he felt lighter, stronger even. He stopped when he noticed his reflection in the murky sewer waters.

Everything was normal, expect for a pair of ringed eyes that replaced his usual blue ones. Being Uzumaki Naruto, he did the one thing he knew how to do.

He freaked out.

"Kyubi! What the hell happened to my eyes!" he questioned as he stared at his reflection.

The fox gave a snort, and watched the blonde flail around in amusement.

"**Boy, you have what is called a Dojutsu. Much like the Sharingan. Yours however, is called the Rinnegan**."

The blondes eyes widened, as his mind raced.

"Yatta! I have a super bad ass eye thingy like Sasuke now too!"

He suddenly stopped celebrating, and turned to the amused beast.

"Uh, what does it do?"

The fox grinned.

"**I could tell you, but that's no fun. The most I will tell you though is you should cut off your Chakra circulation to your eyes, I would highly recommend you keep it a secret, it would be enough to explain why you have whiskers. Your eyes are another story.**"

"What! No fair! How am I supposed to be a bad ass if I don't even know what they do!"

Kyubi yawned and closed its eyes.

"**Not my problem.**"

Naruto grumbled, and plopped himself down in the water. His eyes shut as he contemplated what had just happened.

"Say...Kyubi."

The fox growled in response.

"You're right."

The fox snapped one eye open lazily.

"This is a new world, and a new start...for both of us. You're not a monster, and I'm no longer a Shinobi. So let's start off fresh...as friends?"

Kyubi opened both eyes, and lifted its head once more. The blonde was reflected in his crimson eyes, a wide grin on his face.

"**You pathetic fool. I have no need for friends. We stick to the basic rule. You die, I die. So I'll help you...for now.**"

Naruto gave a foxy grin.

"It's a start!" he stated.

"**Out of my domain! I must rest.**"

With a mental push, the blonde found himself flying across his mind scape, the Kyubi growing farther and farther. Until in a bright flash of light, everything was gone.

Back in the cage, the fox stared at the spot the blonde once occupied.

"_**Uzumaki Naruto, maybe you are the one the old man spoke of..**_"

-TWTL-

* * *

Naruto awoke with a yelp as he found himself connected to multiple machines, all beeping. His blue eyes scanned the room to find cracks formed along the walls, roof, and even the floor. Knocked over tables and broken objects scattered around the floor. The most interesting thing however was that before him, or on top of him actually, over the seal were two objects.

One was a Three Pointed Kunai, and the other was a book.

"The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja." the blonde read aloud.

He opened the book and found a picture of his very own Sensei with a toothy grin.

"Written by Jiraiya the Toad Sage."

The blonde could not help the smile that made its way on his face. He had been spending allot more time with the perverted old man, almost every day until the recent events.

That made Naruto frown.

He was in a new world, his old one gone. He had no way of getting back, that he knew of.

Sasuke was still out there, maybe dead or alive. He had a Dojutsu, and he just learned of his parents. Things had gotten too complicated, too fast.

Either way, he was Uzumaki Naruto, son of the Fourth Hokage and of Uzumaki Kushina, he would not be backing down.

He was ripped out of his thoughts when the door to his wrecked room opened suddenly, and a tall man holding a Katana stepped in. A surprised look on his face.

Naruto gave the man a sheepish grin, and a small wave.

"Hi, I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

So, it begins.

-End-

* * *

Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed it. I hope I did a good job, let me know what you think. Also I do have an idea for the pairings, the max I'm willing to go is two girls for Naruto. The next chapters should introduce Naruto to the new world, and develop his character along with others. Review, for Kurama commands it.


	3. Welcome to a New World

**The Will to Live**

I do not own Naruto or HOTD. Enjoy!** Please excuse any spelling and grammar mistakes. Still in need of a Beta! PM me if you're interested**.

Chapter III

"Welcome to a New World"

-TWTL-

* * *

Soichiro stared at the grinning blonde with an unreadable expression. His dark eyes scanning the blondes body, completely ignoring the destroyed room around him.

"_There's barley a wound on his body, two days ago he was covered in blood and bruises._" the man thought.

Their was also the fact that when the young teen spoke, his Japanese was heavily accented. It took allot to understand the teens introduction.

"_Uzumaki Naruto, what a strange name._" he mused.

Naruto on the other hand was beginning to sweat as the slightly intimidating man continued to stare at him with a piercing gaze, as if he was staring into his very soul.

"_Why hasn't he blinked yet.._" the blonde thought to himself.

The two continued to stare at each other. Unintentionally, Naruto gripped the tri-ponged Kunai in his hand tighter, seeing as it was the only weapon he had in reach.

Soichiro saw this, and placed on hand out, as if to tell him to relax. If he was any other person Naruto would have listened, but being in a new world, drained of most of his power, and in unknown territory, add the fact that he was a trained Shinobi and also a powerful one at that, well, he would rather be safe that sorry.

"Relax Uzumaki-san, I wish you no harm."

Naruto blinked.

"_What the hell did he just say to me?_"

Seeing the confused look on the blondes face, Soichiro sighed inwardly.

"Please relax, I mean you no harm." he spoke louder and slower.

Naruto continued to stare at him, his mind racing.

"_His way of speaking, it's familiar, but I can barley understand it._"

Naruto swung his legs off the bed, and let himself drop, slightly annoyed at his size, and at how silly he must have looked.

Soichiro, noticed the annoyed look on the boys face and held back a smirk, he was pretty short for someone his age it seemed. If the Don had to guess, the young blonde looked to be around thirteen, a year younger than his daughter.

The blonde bounced on his heels a little, getting the feeling back in his legs, and stretched his arms. The book he received from his father left on the bed behind him, but the Kunai was still gripped tightly in his hands.

Soichiro once again saw this, and decided it'd be best to not hold the sharp blade in his hands. Bending down, he placed the Katana on the ground and then slowly came up, both arms out in a 'I mean no harm' gesture.

Naruto understood what he meant, and placed the Kunai on the bed behind him. The blonde still had his guard up of course, even in his weakened state, he could still fend off whoever the man before him was, he could sense no Chakra from him.

He was brought out of his thoughts when the man suddenly spoke, his voice deep and low, demanding respect. Whoever he was, he was obviously a leader.

"My name, is Takagi Soichiro."

Naruto gave a nod, showing he understood. It was hard, but if he broke down some of the words, he could understand.

"You were found outside of my estate, heavily injured, and in the middle of a large crater. You are in my home, my staff has been keeping you alive."

"_Not like you needed it._" he added inwardly.

The spiky haired blonde before him looked good as new, save for some of the signs of fatigue and the slightly red skin.

The Don's eyes narrowed.

"_His skin looks like it went through major burns. It looks fresh too, like it recently happened._" The dark orbs drifted to stare at the bright blue ones. "_Considering his strange appearance, could he have also been the reason for the sudden Earthquake that happened recently._"

His eyes lingered on the ocean blue orbs, watching them take notice of his sudden staring, and even more surprisingly, harden, much like a solider.

"_Could he be some sort of super solider. It is possible. I have to take in every possibility, after all, it's not every day a teenage boy appears from thin air, looking as if he just escaped a war field._"

Naruto however, was having thoughts of his own.

"_Why the hell does he keep staring at me._" The blonde gave it some more thought. "_Granted, I did sort of just come out of nowhere, and he did find me seriously injured probably before I started healing. Meh, whatever, he needs to stop with the staring."_

Steeling his eyes, he pointed at the much older man rudely, and spoke.

"Hey old man, quite your staring. It's kind of creepy!"

Soichiro was caught off guard by the sudden outburst. His trained ears understand some of what the heavily accented blonde was saying.

"_Creepy, old, staring._"

A small smirk came on the older mans face as he continued to stare the still pointing blonde, watching as a vain pulsed on his head.

"What the hell are you smirking about!"

"You have quite the big temper for such a short boy." Soichiro commented. The smirk still in place.

Now that, Naruto understood. His head grew two sizes, and his eyes went blank once more.

"Who the hell are you calling short you bushy eyebrowed bastard!"

Soichiro felt his eyebrow twitch, understanding the insult perfectly. He could already tell this boy had a way of getting under someones skin.

Calming himself, the man made no verbal response, instead he reached down, picked up his blade, then turned around and motioned for the blonde to follow him. If he felt good enough to talk, then he could walk.

Naruto watched the older man turn around, and make a follow me gesture. Reaching behind him he grabbed the book and the Kunai, then followed the strange in his eyes, man out. The two walked up a set of stairs the walls were dark, and there wasn't much light.

The trip was relevantly silent, and slightly awkward in Narutos eyes, but it could be worse, he could be a prisoner. Reminding himself that he was still in unknown territory, the blonde continued to scan around him for any escapes or anything he could use to keep himself alive. Reaching the door, Soichiro stopped and turned to the slightly surprised blonde, giving him another once over.

"_Judging by the weapon in his hand, he might not be used to large amounts of technology._" his eyes scanned the Kunai "_A Kunai of all things, what a strange choice of weapon. Could it be that just as some of us still follow the way of the Samurai, some have chosen to honor the way of the Shinobi._" he mused.

Before Naruto could once again ask what the man was looking at, he twisted the knob on the door, and stepped out, the whiskered teen hesitantly following. Once he stepped out, he felt his eyes widen and his mouth drop.

He had never seen anything like this.

All around the house were expensive crystal like thing, pictures of random things he couldn't begin to name. The house was tall, and made out of a different material than he had ever seen.

Everything looked so advanced.

I mean, back home, he had seen similar things, but never on this scale.

Soichiro continued to watch as different emotions crossed the blondes face, the main ones being curiosity and shock.

"_So my theory might be correct after all._" the Don thought.

Naruto continued to admire the expensive furniture and carpeting, and this was only the hallway. The Don stepped in front of the blonde, obscuring the much shorter boys view with his large body, snapping him yet again, out of his trance like state.

"Come boy." he stated simply.

Naruto looked at him and processed the words, before nodding, and following after the man, his eyes taking in the strangeness.

The blonde was captivated by the strange things he was seeing, as they walked by the windows, he could see a large field, and outside, large metallic contraptions standing still some moving around with people inside of them.

Finally reaching the double doors of the Don's private office, Soichiro pushed them open, and nodded two the two guards standing beside each door giving them a small sign, while Naruto gave them an awkward once over.

Stepping into the office, the blonde had to admit, it was nice.

There was an expensive carpet, with a large desk, a small square object placed on it, at the corner was a picture of the man, Soichiro and an older woman who he presumed to be his wife, with a younger girl with light pink hair, which had to be his daughter, there was also a small lamp behind the picture.

Papers were neatly stacked, and there was a small circular thing on the desk, with a bottle of what he presumed to be alcohol on top of it. All over the walls were portraits and framed certificates, there was a large windows with expensive looking curtains, over looking a garden and a small pond with what seemed to be koi-fish.

"Sit." Sochiro stated.

Pulling up a chair, the blonde nodded, and sat down, facing a plain old wall. Until the older man grabbed a remote and pressed a button, the wall opening up to reveal a small rectangular object.

Naruto stared at it curiously, and watched as he pressed another button, and the screen lit up, and people appeared talking to each other.

Narutos eyes were glued to the plasma screen television, shocked at how advanced this new world was.

Soichiro gave a smirk as he walked around his desk and took a seat in his favorite chair. His ears picking up the voice of one of the news reporters.

"_We are here in the Tokonosu District talking to one of the victims of the surprising and strange Earthquake that transpired not even half an hour ago. Sir, what can you tell us about this event?__" _

The man looked to be in his early forty's, and shaken up.

"_I__ don't know, one second I'm driving to the store to buy some groceries, and the next I lose control of my car, while the very ground I was driving on starts shaking uncontrollably. Almost crashed I tell you.__" _

The woman gave a nod, and moved the microphone back to her.

"_Indeed, a surprising and random occurrence, following up the bright flashes that occurred two days ago. It seems like the Tokonosu District is getting it's fair amount of interesting activity this week. More on that, and the Earthquake tonight at eight.__" _

Soichiros eyes drifted to the blonde, his thoughts wandering as he watched him continue to stare at the screen.

"_Could he have been the reason for the Earthquake? It already took enough to convince the Media it was a small vehicle crash, and to hide the crater. Having to explain an Earthquake will be much harder._"

Naruto however was completely unaware that he was the reason for such happenings. Instead, his attention was focused on the technology before him.

"_Holy crap! That's so freaking cool! I have no idea what the hell they're saying, but how did they get in that box!_" he thought excitedly.

He was actually taking the fact that he was in a new world pretty well. A cough from Soichiro caught his attention, and he turned his head to face the Don, watching him lower the volume of the television.

"Now then, I understand I must speak very slowly and use the simplest words I can for you to understand me. You're variation of Japanese is much older, and so harder to understand from what I can tell."

Naruto gave a slow nod, showing his understanding, although it was hard to do at some points.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Can you tell me why you appeared on my property in a flash of light that blacked out most of the city, in a crater, looking as if you just stepped out of a war field?"

Naruto stared hard at the man, his eyes narrowing.

"_Shit! What do I tell him. 'Hey! I'm from another Dimension, me and my best friend were having a major battle, when the energy of a legendary demonic fox and cursed energy opened a rip in the time space continuum. No, he'd have me locked up somewhere._"

Giving a sigh, the teen opened his mouth to speak. However, the sounds of arguing from the closed doors distracted the two. The screams grew louder, and then the sounds of struggling before the doors were unceremoniously opened and a young girl walked in.

Saya was not happy.

Her mother and her had just returned from the Mall, seeing as it was put on lock down from the sudden quake. Her day was ruined, and what supposed to be a relaxing mother daughter trip turned into a panicked frenzy.

Once they arrived home, she spotted her fathers car, and tried finding him all over the estate, however he was no where to be found, she checked his office first, but he was not there.

So, after searching around, she found a small door her father ordered her to stay away from opened in the hall. So, putting the pieces together, she was now facing the guards that stood in her way of her father, and the recently awakened 'guest'.

"I'm sorry Takagi-sama, the Don is speaking with someone, he gave us the sing to not allow anyone to enter."

The pink haired girl growled in anger, her golden brown eyes narrowing dangerously.

"I. Don't. Care. I want to talk to him!."

The guards sweat dropped at the angered youth, and looked at each other. It was a well known fact that the daughter of the Takagi family had inherited a very dangerous aspect from her mother, the ability to inflict fear in any mans heart.

Finally losing her patience, the girl shoved past them and kicked the door open, stepping into the office, and making direct eye contact with a pair of stunningly blue eyes.

"_Wait...blue?_" She thought, slightly surprised.

Her eyes scanned over the blonde, who currently had no shirt on, her eye lingering on his developing body. For someone so young, he was already building up some serious muscle.

She let her cheeks flush at how surprisingly attractive the battered body they found not two days ago really was.

Shaking her head, she forced her glare on the now waving blonde, he began to sweat when he noticed said girl glaring at him.

Remembering full well the power of the enraged female hormone. For a second, a flash of Tsunade and Sakura invaded his vision, a bit of sadness entering his expression, something Soichiro did not miss.

"You!" Saya growled.

Naruto blinked, the sweat rising.

"Me?" he mumbled weakly.

"You're the cause of all of this stress!" She pointed at him accusingly, as a fire lit in her eyes.

"_Shit! Enraged pink haired female! I'm so screwed!_"

Saya however continued to glare at the blonde, her mind however was racing.

"_How is he up and moving right now? He looked to be at Deaths door not even two days ago. None of this is making sense!_"

Her frustration was growing, along with her anger, and being only fourteen years old, she had no control of it whats so ever.

Soichiro stood, and let his leader like personality shine, a serious expression coming over him as his fixated his daughter with a serious stare.

"Saya, do not step into my office like that again, this could have been a seriously important meeting, ruined because of you."

Her anger began to lower, and her cheeks were tinted red with embarrassment at her fathers scolding. Naruto watched her, and sweat dropped.

"_Holy bi-polar._" he mused.

"Uzumaki-san, I'm sorry. This is my daughter. Takagi Saya, who will be taking her leave after introductions are done with." the Don spoke.

Naruto gave the girl a fox like grin, and scratched the back of his head, unintentionally giving her an eye full of his upper body.

"Names Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you Saya-chan!"

The girl growled.

"Who the hell said you could call me by my first name! And put a shirt on you pervert!" she cried.

Naruto blinked, and looked down at himself, as if just now realizing that he held no shirt. His eyes wandered to his chest, and noticed something of great importance missing.

"_The Shodais necklace!_" he cried, the precious stone given to him by Tsunade missing from his neck.

"My stuff! Where is my stuff?" the teen cried loudly, surprising the occupants of the room.

The urgency of his tone was not missed by anyone, and the look in his eyes made most of then nervous.

"All of your things are placed inside of one of the knocked over cabinets in the room you woke up in."

Naruto understood that easily.

Saya suddenly felt a sharp wind pass by her, and Soichiros eyes winded as the blonde seemed to vanish from his eyes, and suddenly appear in front of the door.

"_Fast!_" thought the pink haired genius with wide eyes.

"_That speed, is unbelievable. I barley saw him move!_" the Don thought.

The Don moved from behind his desk and followed the blonde, as did Saya, and the two guard followed them because, well, its their job.

Naruto however was ignoring everything, as he ducked and evaded random people which he believed to be maids and staff, before making a sharp turn and jumping head long into the door he earlier came out of.

The teen rushed down the steps and into the small underground room before searching wildly for the knocked over cabinet, the grip on his Kunai tighter.

His eyes finally saw a small brown square, and rushed to it.

Ripping the cabinet open, he looked to see his orange jumpsuit ripped and tattered, blood and dirt staining the fabric.

Over it was his Shinobi pouch, a few Kunai and Shuriken still inside, along with a few Solider Pills.

Next to it was his headband, folded neatly. Right in front of that were his Shinobi sandals, and in the middle of it all, wrapped in a small white fabric, was the first Hokages necklace.

The blonde placed the Tri-Ponged Kunai down, as well as the 'Tales of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi' that was in his other hand down, and reached inside, ignoring the people who rushed into the room in time to watch him pull out the necklace.

The teen gazed at the stone, and gave a small sigh of relief. This was one of his first ever gifts, it was beyond precious to him. It was his a testimony to him becoming Hokage. Although, he would never accomplish that dream now.

His saddened ocean blue eyes drifted to folded headband, and with one hand, he gripped it tightly.

This, more than anything mattered the most to him. A gift from the first person to truly acknowledge him, and a sing of trust and faith. His Shinobi headband, showing that he was a proud Ninja of Konoha.

Now, he was nothing.

From behind him, Soichiro and Saya, watched him, with a growing sadness. The guards were ordered to stay upstairs by Soichiro once they reached the lower rooms doorstep.

Saya continued to stare at the exposed back of the blonde.

Her mind racing.

"_I don't understand! I've read dozens of books on Psychology. I should be able to at least read his motives. He shouldn't be walking right now, nothing can be able to stand up after the condition he was in, and he seemed fine in daddy's office, and now here he is, a different person, immersed in his own world._" her confusion was starting to grow once more, and as she stated before, Saya hated not knowing.

"_Uzumaki Naruto. Who are you?_"

She was brought out of her musings by her fathers hand being placed on her should. Light golden brown eyes met a darker pair.

"Uzumaki-san, we shall be in the main hall. I trust you will be able to find it. I shall have someone bring you something to eat later on in the day, we shall leave you to your own now."

The Don hoped the boy could understand that, and stepped out, lightly closing the door and leaving the blonde teen to his own devices.

Silently, he walked side by side with his daughter, his eyes drifting to her. He recognized the look in her eye, curiosity, confusion. It was the same look Yuriko gave him when they first met.

"_She must have inherited that curiosity from her mother._" he mused.

"Daddy." his daughter soft voice spoke "What are you going to do with him?" she asked.

Soichiro stayed quiet, before giving a small sigh.

"He will stay with us for a while, until he can get settled in. My honor will not allow me to throw a confused child out into this cold world."

"_Besides, I feel as if he would be more of a threat to the world, than the world could ever be to him. That speed, it's not human, he must be some form of trained solider. Right now he is confused, and a confused solider, is a dangerous one._" he added inwardly.

"Where did he come from? How is he even alive right now?" she asked her father all of these questions as they stepped out of the stairway and into the hall, ignoring the two guards that saluted their leader.

"I have many questions as well. The answers will come in time, be patient. Now, let us go and see your mother." he spoke as he crossed his arms behind his back, and walked calmly to the main hall.

Saya huffed, her eyes darting back to the small door, before giving a small sigh.

"_Be patient he says...how can I be, when such an interesting enigma is going to be living with us from here on out._"

The girl shook her head quickly "_Why am I suddenly so interested in him.._" she wondered, a flash of ringed eyes invaded her mind.

Saya growled at herself, and gave out a frustrated sigh.

"_All of this stressing is doing me no good. I should focus on other things._" With a small nod, she went after her father, trying to focus on other matters besides their new blonde guest.

-TWTL-

* * *

Naruto didn't know how long he had sat there, just reminiscing on his friends, and his now old life, he had heard the door open, and someone drop off a plate of what he presumed to be food from the smell of it, but he didn't feel like eating.

His mind was to busy thinking how everyone must have been reacting, how they probably thought he and Sasuke killed each other. How Orochimaru must be throwing a hissy fit, or how the Aktasuki must have been freaking out over his disappearance.

It all crossed his mind, and knowing that he was causing his precious people pain, and that they believed him to be dead, hurt the most. He thought about Tsunade or the Pervy-Sage and how he must have been using everything in his power, even his Toads to find him.

"_Wait!_" the blonde thought "_The Toads! If I could just summon them! Their might be a way!_" he thought excitedly.

Standing up, the teen took a deep breath, and steeled himself. Going through the necessary hand sings, he raised his hand, and then slammed it on the ground, summoning just enough Chakra to call Gamakichi.

What he expected was a loud poof of smoke, and the frog to freak once he saw him.

What he did not expect was for his eyes to widen, and blood to start pooling out of his mouth and onto the floor, as his insides began to feel the same pain as when he was inside of rift.

He could feel his Chakra ripping itself apart from within him. The blonde fell to his knees holding onto his stomach as the pain continued to grind into him.

From within the seal, the foxes eyes snapped open at the disturbance.

"_What hell is going on?"_ the blonde screamed in his mind.

"_**You idiot!**_" a familiar voice roared.

A familiar warm feeling coursed through him as the foxes Chakra worked to counter balance his own, the pain slowly starting to fade away.

Finally catching his breath, the teen wiped the blood left over on his lip with the back of his hand, his eyes still wide.

"Kyubi! How?" he asked aloud.

"_**Speak in your mind, use your thoughts to communicate with me, unless you want people thinking your insane.**_"

"_How's this?_"

"_**Better.**_" it responded.

Naruto inhaled deeply, wincing slightly as his throat and chest began to ache once more, the pain not completely gone.

"_Kyubi! What the hell was that! I can't channel Chakra without feeling like my insides are going through a blender!_"

He could hear the fox growl.

"_**Are you so stupid that you can't think that putting your body through a dimensional rift, won't have some form of effect on you. My Chakra can balance it out, but your Chakra is not used to rift energy. It invaded your **__**system, and caused some form of disturbance.**_"

Naruto grunted, and slammed his fist on the wall, causing small cracks to appear around it, a testimony to his strength.

"_Are you saying I can't use my Chakra?_"

The great fox gave a sigh.

"_**For now, no. You'll have to wait till the rift energy filters out of your system. Over time it should, and you should be able to regain some of your power, but the more you push it, the more damage you will do to yourself.**_"

"_How long will that take!_" he asked.

"_**Rift energy is powerful, very powerful, its pure energy, unlike Chakra which is separated, rift energy is pure and one hundred times stronger, had you been another human, you would have been dead, but your Chakra is surprisingly potent and powerful for a humans, and your body is already used to foreign Chakra, thanks to me. So you survived it invading your system. What it will do to you, I do not know. It could be slowly killing you, or it could make you stronger. Who knows.**_"

The spiky haired blonde groaned, letting his body fall back and hit the floor as he stared at the ceiling.

"_So you're telling me I'm dealing with something completely unknown, inside of my body, that could end up slowly killing me, and my main source of power, is currently out of action._"

"_**Yes.**_"

The blonde sighed, his eyes shutting as the pain finally faded away, leaving him feeling sore from the inside out.

"Well, that's just fantastic! Why can't I ever get a break!" he cried aloud.

"_**The best I can tell you is train your physical energy, and find out what your Rinnegan can do.**_"

"_Wait. I thought I couldn't use Chakra, how am I going to use the Rinnegan? Plus, I don't know any Taijutsu style, how am I going to train myself._"

The fox gave a small growl, and spoke.

"_**Think about it mortal. Yes, your Chakra is out of the question, but you're still alive? The Rinnegan requires that you just channel the Chakra into your eyes, it's not a Jutsu, it's a bloodline. It's like cutting off your Chakra flow, it's not like your using a Jutsu, which you need to regulate the Chakra outside of your body as well as inside. With the Rinnegan, you only need to regulate the Chakra inside of your body.**_**"**

Besides, it's not like the blonde would be able to use some of the more powerful outer Jutsu the Rinnegan allowed just yet, and by the time he could, his body should have filtered out most of the rift energy. Without the outward Jutsu, the Rinnegan still provided with some nice basic skills, such as increased vision, and more precision.

"_**As for Taijutsu. I have lived many years boy, and I have witnessed many different Taijutsu styles. I could help you learn one of them.**_"

Naruto instantly brightened up at that, a wide grin splitting his face.

"_Really? Yatta! Wait, why are you helping me?_"

"_**If I die, you die. I've said it before.**_"

Naruto gave a sly grin.

"_Really, or maybe you're actually starting to like me?_" he teased.

"_**Silence fool! As if I would ever consider a pathetic human a comrade. I've had enough of you, do not disturb my sleep again boy. Or else.**_" the fox growled, voice fading away.

Naruto gave a slight frown, and made a 'tch' sound.

"Geez, someones grumpy when they're woken up." he mumbled to himself.

Sighing, the teen turned to food plate, and noticed there was also a small bag, and a fresh pair of clothing there as well with a note. Moving over to pick it up, the blonde began to read it, once again, it was hard considering how different the language was.

"_Uzumaki-san, there is a shower near this room, go to it whenever you wish, I have had it prepared for you use. Once you are done, there shall be a servant waiting for you, he shall escort you to the main hall, we shall talk from there. Takagi._"

Naruto turned to the plate a food, and felt his stomach growl. With a happy grin, he dug in, and enjoyed the meal.

Once he was done, he picked up the bag, and placed the headband, his Kunai pouch, along with the Tri Kunai and the book his father left him inside of it, the necklace hanging off of his neck, before picking up the clothes and making his way up the stairs, then entering the hallway, slightly shocked at seeing the same guards, but giving them a small nod, which they returned.

Once of them stepped forward and spoke.

"Uzumaki-san, follow me, I shall escort you to your facility."

With a nod, the blonde followed, still amazed by all of the things he saw. Once he reached another door, the guard nodded and motioned for the blonde to enter.

The teen gave him a small wave, and a thank you before stepping into the expensive looking bathroom. Their was a tub and a shower, with everything he would need, on the counter there was a blue towel and a toothbrush with toothpaste.

There was also a mirror, in which he inspected himself, posing a few times, before finally entering the shower, singing a small song as he washed himself.

-TWTL-

* * *

Soichiro sat patiently with his wife and daughter in the main hall, it was a large room with a large plasma screen television set, and other expensive things.

Surrounding it were two railings and a set of large stair steps that lead into different rooms. Around it were various ornaments and pictures, and a large window was placed in the middle of the wall, just after the stairway.

"So, this boy speaks a different Japanese than us?" Yuriko asked her husband with curiosity.

"Yes, it's thicker, and feels older. He's quite the character." the man commented.

Saya however, just sat in between her mother and father an annoyed expression on her face.

"I still don't get why I have to be here." she mumbled.

Yuriko gave her daughter a small smile.

"Now now, if I recall, you're the most curious one of us all. You wouldn't stop asking about the Uzumaki-kun for the past two days."

"S-Shut up mother!" she yelled with a blush.

Soichiro just watched the scene with a small amount amusement, his thoughts on the soon to be new resident of their home.

"_I sense no ill will from him, and just giving him up to the Media or whoever else may find him seems like a terrible idea. That boy is quite powerful. I can feel it flowing out of him, he is also confused, and leaving him to his own devices would be the worst choice as of right now._"

The sound of footsteps caught the attention of the Takagi family, and all eyes turned to the stairs as an older man dressed as a simple butler walked with a bow fully clothed Naruto following behind.

The blonde wore a simple white shirt, his necklace tucked inside of it, and a pair of tan cargo shorts, on his feet were a pair of white socks, with sandals.

The teen seeing the family, gave a small grin and a wave, while the butler gave a small bow, and walked away to do butler like things, at least that's what the blonde believed.

"Thank you for the food, and clothing, and well everything." the teen stated with surprising respect as he gave a small bow.

Soichiro lifted a hand, and gave a small smile.

"It was nothing Uzumaki-san, it would be a blow to m honor to leave you with no form of help. By the way, this is my wife, Takagi Yuriko."

The woman gave a warm smile, and a small wink to the blonde, making him blush.

"_Holy hell she's hot!_" the teen stated inwardly.

"Nice to meet you mam!" he stated with a grin.

Turning to back to the older man, but not before giving Saya a small grin as well, his blue eyes giving off a slight fox like appeal.

"Now then, back to my earlier question. Sit, please."

Naruto nodded, and sat down on the small chair placed there for him, facing the family.

"Can you please tell my why you suddenly appeared out of thin air."

Now, Naruto was in the lower room, for a good part of the day, so he had time to prepare.

"I...don't remember." he stated.

Soichiros eyes narrowed, while the two females looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean you don't remember?" questioned Saya rudely.

A look from her mother silenced her however.

Naruto grew slightly defensive at her tone, and his eyes hardened as he processed her words.

"I don't remember. Me and a friend we're somewhere in a forest I think, then there was this bright flash of white light, and the rest I don't remember." he explained.

Soichiros eyes closed, and he looked to be deep in though.

"_He's lying, very well. If he wishes to keep it to himself, I shall respect his wishes, as long as he brings no trouble to my family._"

Opening his eyes, he gave the blonde a small nod.

"That is an inconvenience, hopefully your memory will return with time."

Naruto gave him a grateful look, and the Dons theory was proven correct.

"However, you will stay with us, until then. You will take proper Japaneses classes, and learn to correct yourself, once you have done that, you will attend School with Saya. I shall make sure everything is ready for you by then. You are free to wander the Estate, and only the Estate. Unless you accompany me or my wife outside."

Naruto listened intently, and nodded.

"_This man, he's smart, really smart. Either way, I owe him for this._"

"Thank you." the teen spoke.

"Think nothing of it, a room has been prepared for you. You shall be lead there by one of our staff. It is getting late, and I'm sure you are quite exhausted. I bid you a goodnight Uzumaki-san. You too Saya." he stated as a man walked next to Naruto, and motioned for him to follow.

Saya stared long and hard at her father, before sighing in defeat, and biding them a goodnight and leaving, but not before giving the blonde one more look.

Naruto then gave the family a nod and bid them all a good night as well, before following the butler. Once they were all gone, Yuriko turned to her husband, her eyes glinting.

"You don't believe him do you?" she asked.

The Don shook his head a no.

"I sense no ill will from him, and throwing him out there would do more harm then good. So he shall remain with us."

Yuriko gave a nod and scooted closer to him, before resting her head on his shoulder.

"Things have gotten quite interesting my love."

Soichiro smirked.

"Yes, they have. I sense something strange from him however, and Saya seems to be very interested in him."

"She's a curios girl, and he's chalk full of interesting things."

The Don closed his eyes and wrapped his arm around his wife.

"Yes, let's see how this will all play out."

-TWTL-

* * *

Naruto stepped into his new room, and whistled in appreciation. It was spacious and large, with a nice view of the forest around the estate. There was a nice bed, and a desk with another one of those square things. There were some books on the table, but he would read those in the morning.

Taking his shirt off, and placing his things next to the small desk beside the bed, the blonde pulled out the book his father gave him, and flipped to the first page as he laid down, and began to read.

"The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi, Naruto." he read aloud.

A smile fell on his face at the name of the main Character. He read until his eyes felt heavy, and he drifted off to sleep.

-End-

* * *

A/N PLEASE READ

There you have it, I hope you like my update speed, I'm having allot of fun writing. Did you guys not like the last Chapter, I got barley any feedback, and I'm willing to hear some constructive criticism. Anyway, somethings I want to talk about. Yes their language is different, Narutos is older and thicker, but they can still understand each other, he will learn however. It is not because he's from the past, but because in his Dimension Japan never formed, something happened and the Human race developed differently. I also added the Rift Energy as a special treat, how it will effect Naruto, you will have to find out. I hope I did well, next chapter, things move along, and Naruto enters High School. Thank you for your time, please review.


	4. The Nightmare Begins

**The Will to Live**

I do not own Naruto, or HOTD. Please excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes, I still do not have a beta. Enjoy! **This chapter may contain gore, and language, among other things.**

A/N I think it's about time I started with the story, so there will be a major Time Skip, but don't worry, you'll understand everything.

Chapter IV

"The Nightmare Begins"

-TWTL-

* * *

_2 Years Later_

_I was used to the peace, it was a nice change from the constant battle. I was really beginning to enjoy my new life, hell, I even felt normal. Well, as normal as a Shinobi with supernatural powers and a being of pure energy sealed in his gut could, but you get the picture. Alas, life had a way of doing me in. My peace was about to be rudely interrupted by something I would have never imagined. The dead. _

A familiar mop of spiky blonde hair moved through the crowed hallways of Fujimi High School, smiling and waving at some of the familiar faces as he made his way to his next class, which just happened to be his worst class, mathematics.

Two years had passed since he entered this new world, the next morning when he awoke, Soichiro had him begin his studies, the blonde was taught almost everything he would need to know, still pretending to have amnesia to avoid questioning, he knew the Don was curious, but he was glad he respected the blondes privacy.

The Jinchuuriki had changed much in the past two years, he was taller now than ever before, thanks to his new diet, all thanks to Yuriko he stood at a solid five eleven, his hair was also wilder and longer than ever, two long bangs falling over his side burns, resembling his fathers. The blondes face lost much of its baby fat, giving it a more angled appearance, and his blue eyes grew darker.

After attending online schooling to catch himself up for a year, he finally entered Fujimi High as a first year student. Needless to say, it was an interesting experience.

After the first week or so, the blonde decided he did not agree with the uniform, and made his own customization. Instead of a black blazer, he had Yuriko stitch him a long black coat, with an orange spiral on the back, along with a long black headband with an orange Konoha symbol stitched on the front. Underneath, he wore a white v neck, with the firsts necklace hanging proudly.

He was thoroughly satisfied, and thanked Yuriko by helping her around the house for the next month or so. The school however was not amused, and they decided to detain the blonde. That was the day the 'Prank King from Hell' arose. The next morning the school was painted completely pink. The teen got suspended for three days, but they never brought the subject up again.

The rest of his first year in high school went along smoothly, and Naruto met some very interesting characters. Takashi being one of them. The older teen reminded him of a more emotional form of Sasuke. Granted the Uchiha was constantly set on brood, but I digress.

Now in their second year, it should have been third for Takashi, but he got held back, things were going pretty smoothly, he was even regaining some more of his Chakra, enough to form a fully functional Rasengan if he pushed hard enough, which meant that his Chakra level was at High Chunin level at best, but it still hurt like hell to use it.

His Taijutsu had improved as well, the Kyubi teaching him the lost Uzumaki Art, 'Tenkai.' or Heavens release. It was a very powerful style that used the Uzumaki healing along with their endurance and stamina to preform a series powerful attacks, it had three major moves, and the blonde had already knocked down one in a year.

Speaking of the fox, it had surprisingly been more tame lately, which made him think that he was finally getting through to the tailed beast, which brought a true smile to his face. The smile was gone in an instant and the teen sighed quietly as the last bell rang, meaning he was late to class, again.

Naruto slowed down, watching some of the students rush past him, some giving him a sheepish grin as they passed, which he returned. Once the hall way was clear, the teen ran towards to the near by ledge and jumped over it.

Now, for most, the laws of gravity would come into effect, and they would fall three floors to their doom, but then again, most people were not Uzumaki Naruto. In a surprising show of strength, the teen raised his hands and grabbed the railing above him and pushed himself up, doing a small flip, before landing on the wall, crouched like an animal, on the wall..sideways.

Not missing a beat, the teen ran along the wall, and giving another mighty leap, cleared the large fence that surrounded the roof of the school, before landing quietly on the ground, so as to not disturb his guest.

Who was his guest? Well, it was none other than Komuro Takashi.

Takashi was a rather average looking teenager, he had blackish brown hair, and brown eyes, with a slightly pale complexion. He had a build, but it showed he didn't partake in much physical activity.

Currently, the teenager was sulking his heart out as he stared at nothing in particular.

"You know, the more you mope about it, the less anything will be accomplished." the blondes deep voice rang.

The dark haired teen jumped in surprise, and turned around, leveling his fellow classmate with an annoyed glare.

"Naruto! How many times have I told you not to do that" he exclaimed.

Naruto in response gave a wide grin, and held up up his hand and making the peace signal with his fingers.

"Mah, Takashi-kun, relax. You're too stressed, loosen up bro."

The teen sighed, and shoved his hands in his school uniform pockets, closing his eyes and leaning on the fence behind him.

"I swear, how you manage to do that all the time without me even noticing you amazes me."

In the blink of an eye the blonde was beside him, hands behind his head as he leaned back on the fence as well, a knowing smirk on his face.

"I already told you, trademark Ninja secret."

The darker haired teen scoffed.

"When will you ever stop with the ninja crap. You've been spewing it since you got to this school."

The temperature suddenly dropped in the area, and Takashi had to suppress a shudder as cold and calculating blue eyes peered into his own.

"It's no joke Takashi-kun, I am a ninja."

The two stared at each other, before blue eyes narrowed into mere slits, and the older teen found himself gaping as the blonde suddenly had his ramen in his hands, and was munching down on it with extreme glee.

"W-Wha? H-How! I hid it so well today!"

The blonde stopped eating, and responded with a dead pan stare. Slurping up the last of the noodles, he gave a content burp, and fell on his behind, giving a satisfied sigh.

"Mah, I'm not just any kind of ninja, I'm a ramen ninja. You've hid the precious everywhere, even the girls bathroom, but I always find it. You're mom makes the best ramen, thank her for me!" the blonde stated with a wide grin.

Takashi chose not to respond, instead he just followed suit, and fell down on his behind as well next to the blonde.

"You're insane." he mumbled.

Oh well, you can choose your enemy's, but you can't choose your friends. Or was it the other way around, Takashi gave a mental shrug and decided to leave it at that. His brown eyes shifted to the still grinning Uzumaki, his blue eyes reflecting the sky itself as he gazed at the slow moving clouds.

He remembered the whiskered teen once mentioning that a good friend of his used to do it allot, and he found it relaxing. The blonde was a strange one indeed. There was something off about him, anyone who had met him could tell you that.

He seemed to smile at you, but behind that smile was something more, something no one could understand, the blonde held a power, that just being around him, you felt at ease, as if with him by your side, nothing could hurt you. He had a way of making you open up to him, and make you want to trust him.

I suppose it's why Takashi considered him more of a close friend than almost anyone.

Even when the fallout between him and Rei happened, the teen was there. A frown fell on the dark haired teens face once more as thoughts of the very reason he was so broody invaded his mind scape.

Blue eyes noticed this, and the blonde leaned forward, removing his hands from the back of his head, and gave a sigh.

"You really need to let it go, I'm not saying a promise is something to break, because going back on your word has always been taboo in my book, but right now, brooding isn't getting you anywhere."

The other teen remained silent.

Naruto shrugged and stood, his coat fluttering in the breeze behind him.

"I'll leave you to your own then. Just wanted to check up on you, if you need me, I'll be in the usual spot."

He then proceeded to place his hands in his pockets and walk off, leaving a sighing teen behind to his own thoughts. As soon as the blonde reached for the door to the roof, it opened, revealing the familiar face of Morita, a teen with short hair and a strange spiky Mohawk in the front.

Naruto gave the boy a grin and stuck out his fist for a fist bump.

Morita grinned in return and linked the blondes knuckles with his own.

"Morita! Good to see you, I was just leaving Mr. Brood over there to his thoughts." he gestured to the now annoyed teen.

"Would you stop calling me that!" Takashi cried.

The other teen chuckled, and gave the taller blonde a thumbs up.

"Perfect timing I guess. I was just about to take him with me to the stairs. I heard some teachers saying they were going to check this place out for any delinquents like us."

Naruto blinked, and gave a small nod.

"Hm, guess they're catching on to us. Well, I'll see you guys in Physical Ed."

Giving the shorter teen a small two finger salute, he walked off down the stair way, heading to the 'usual' spot, which consisted of a special closed off area of the old side of the school, a place no one really went to for fear of getting in trouble. Naruto however, decided that trouble came to him, so he could do whatever he wanted.

As the door shut behind him, Morita turned to the now standing Takashi and offered a wave.

"Yo, looks like us three are doing the same thing today huh?" he spoke.

Takashi gave a small smile at his old friend and nodded.

"Yeah, I didn't get much sleep last night, and being cooped up in a class room is not my idea of fun right now."

The other teen nodded sagely.

"I agree, we better get out of here quick though. The teachers could be here any minute, and I don't feel like dealing with them right now."

With a nod, the two followed Narutos example and headed down the stairs, before finding themselves in the familiar halls of Fujimi High.

Takashi stopped and yawned as he stared through the large open window beside him, opposite of the rows of lockers.

"So, is the reason you've been all depressed lately because of the rumors?"

Takashi gave his friend a look, silently asking him to elaborate.

"Well, there's a rumor going around that you got rejected by the same girl who is dating Igou, the same girl who got held back last year along with you, Hisashi said her name was Rei something."

He didn't seem to notice Takashis eyes harden, or his knuckles turn white as he squeezed tightly, digging his nails into his skin.

"Miyamoto." he stated suddenly.

"Huh?" Morita stated.

"Rei Miyamoto. That's her name, the girl who's dating Hisashi."

Moritas eyes winded.

"Oh shit man, that's your-"

He didn't get a chance to finish as Takashi walked by him, a sudden calmness about him that seemed to put the other teen on edge.

"If the teachers are checking the roofs, I'll just head over the the Astronomy Clubs side. No one seems to check there."

"W-Wait! Aren't you mad? I mean, you told me about the promise."

Takashi gave his friend a small smile, although anyone could see it was fake.

"Nah, Igou is a good guy. He's good looking, smart, and good at sports. It all comes naturally to him."

Morita seemed taken back at this.

"I-If you say so, I'm going to hide out in the dorms. Naruto said we should all meet up in front of the School once classes are over, and head to the Arcade. You down?"

Takashi gave a sigh.

"Would Naruto let me be anything but?"

The shorter teen gave a laugh.

"No he wouldn't. Guess I'll be seeing you after school, later Komuro."

With a wave, the teen ran off, leaving Takashi alone as he made his way to the Astronomy Clubs roof.

-TWTL-

* * *

Naruto growled as he made his way to the older complex of the School, near the track and sheds.

"Why the hell does this school have so many stairs!" he mumbled to himself.

The blonde pulled his right hand out of his pocket and scratched the back of his head.

"_Mah, I can't even use any of my skills without risking being caught. Then they would question me, and send me to a lab, and do experiments on my body! Just like in the movies!_" he thought hysterically.

From within the confides of him mind, a deep and familiar voice growled.

"_**Shut the hell up brat! You've been watching too many stupid conspiracy movies!**_"

The teen stopped mid step and blinked.

"_Oh, Kyubi. I thought you were napping?_"

The fox growled once more.

"_**I was, and I will be again soon. I just thought I should warn you, I feel a disturbance.**_"

Naruto scoffed, and shot the fox a blank look, even though it couldn't really see it.

"_Oh __yeah, I'm watching to many movies. 'A disturbance' come on Kyubi. I thought you said you hated Star Wars?_"

From within the cage, the Kyubi roared.

"_**You fool! I never said that, I said the Empire Strikes back was pointless! Never insult the Star Wars series! Or I'll send you mental pictures of Gai and Lee hugging again.**_"

The whiskered teen winced, and hugged himself unconsciously, the images fresh in his memory.

"_Okay! I'm sorry! Sheesh! Now, what disturbance are you talking about?_"

"_**Tch, I don't care. I did more than enough by warning you. Whatever it is, it's your problem brat. I'm going back to sleep.**_"

The deep voice faded away, and Naruto felt the mental link break as the mighty tailed beast fell into a slumber once more.

"Stupid lazy fox." he muttered to himself "_Still, Kyubi is a force of Nature. So if he feels something is off, it must mean something big is about to happen._"

Naruto felt himself grin as the familiar feeling of excitement rushed through his body. Finally, something to up the action around here, and if it was big enough that the Kyubi could feel it, then the blonde could already tell it was nothing normal.

"Yatta! Thing's are about to get fun!"

With a new found energy in him, the blonde rushed at civilian like speeds towards the small and old cottage like building near the edge of the school, close to the river. Some of the kids outside saw only an orange and black blur rush past them, a similar thought running through their minds.

Uzumaki.

-TWTL-

* * *

Takashi sighed as he leaned over the railing, his eyes scanning over the whole front of the School, as he let his thoughts wander. From the corner of his eyes, he saw pink pedals falling to the ground in a lazy fashion.

"Cherry blossoms? No wonder the Club picked this place. It's soothing." he whispered.

With a sigh, the teen extended one hand, his pinky out as his thoughts swarmed once more, memories of the promise Rei made to him making him grit his teeth in anger and frustration.

"Pinky promise. If you break it, I'll make you swallow one thousand needles." he repeated darkly.

A sudden chill ran down his spine as familiar figures walked into his line of vision, heading towards the main gate of the school. Takashi remove his hand, and narrowed his eyes to get a better look. It seemed there was some stranger at the gates, and he kept running into it, like he didn't even know it was there.

"Huh, who is that? Some creep?" he whispered.

What would happen next would change his life forever.

-TWTL-

* * *

Naruto slowed down as he approached the old building. He gave a small grin and took a step forward when a sudden chill ran down his spine.

The teen sniffed a couple of times, before his eyes narrowed.

That smell.

It was a smell he would never forget.

"Blood.." he whispered.

His sharp blue eyes searched for the source, hoping that it was just a dead animal, or a bird.

"_No, the smell. It's too fresh._"

Suddenly flicking his wrist, a sharp Kunai came to his hand from one of his hidden pockets. Flipping it around so it was in a reverse fashion, the teen brought it up to his chest, and tensed his muscles as he stepped quietly, his Shinobi training kicking in.

He was always good at stealth, being able to out run many high level ninja back home, he got even better once he entered this new world, having to sneak out of the Estate for training and such things, as well as keeping his power a secret.

His sharp eyes caught a hole on the near by fence, meaning someone must have strong armed their way in. Their were small blood stains on the fence, and a trail leading into the old building before him. Cautiously approaching the building, the blonde climbed up the short steps and took a look at his surroundings for any shadows lurking around. Giving himself a mental nod, the teen slowly reached for the doorknob.

"Arggh!" a loud screech came from above, and in an instant a body dropped before the blonde.

The teens eyes widened and he jumped back, landing in a crouched position Kunai poised to strike, and kill if body remained motionless as blood pooled around it.

Naruto snarled as the smell of death assaulted his nose, he was never a fan of the smell. His eyes widened as the 'dead' body twitched and gave a groan.

"_What the.._" he thought.

Letting himself stand upright, he took a cautious step forward an spoke.

"Hey, are you alright?" the blonde questioned.

Their was another groan, and the body let out another twitch. His grip on the Kunai grew tighter, as the body raised itself from the ground. Blue eyes widened as he saw a large piece of his stomach was gone, leaving nothing but gore behind.

"What..the hell?" he whispered.

The boy seemed to react to the sound of his voice, as it hurled itself towards the surprised blonde, giving out an inhuman groan.

Naruto quickly stepped back, and leaned to the right, evading the 'dead' creature, and watching it stumble before falling to the ground.

"_Is it blind or something?_" he thought.

His question was answered as the creature stood slowly and turned to him, both of its eyes turning in random directions, gray and pale, much like its skin was. There was blood leaking from its mouth, and flesh lodged in between its open maw.

Never before had the blonde seen such a sight, and it made him take an involuntary step back.

That proved to be a mistake however. From the windows, multiple hands erupted, the sounds of glass shattering, and the same monotone groans swallowing the silence. From them, more bodies erupted, all looking to be in the same condition as the first, although their injuries were random, they all looked to have been bitten by something.

"What the fuck!" the teen questioned aloud.

Another mistake.

At the sound of his voice the creatures rushed to him, their mouth open, eager to get a piece of him, literally it seemed. Naruto however, was no ones meal. Pumping Chakra into his feet, the blonde gave a mighty leap, and landed sideways on the wall of the old building, sticking to it much like the comic hero named Spider man that he read about did.

He watched the 'dead' bodies pile onto each other, some tearing into each other spilling blood and gore all over.

"Holy crap! This is familiar!" he stated loudly.

The creatures heard the sound of his voice and rushed over to the wall, only to slam against it and fall to the ground once more.

"I've seen this on the late show! You ghoulish fiends will hold me down and take turns nibbling on my insides, then you'll eat my brain and leave my body for the buzzards!"

The creatures continued to slam into the wall.

"Well let me tell you, there's no freaking way that's happening!"

Gripping his Kunai tightly, he let himself fall on top of one of the creatures, his weight crushing its skull, and blood pooling around him. Ducking, he avoided a sweep from another one of the creatures, and then gave the attacker a crushing kick to the ribs, feeling some of them crack under his above normal strength. The creature ricocheted back, and crashed into another incoming one, sending them both to the ground.

"Ho ho!"

He cried as he back flipped over one coming in from behind him, and giving it a frontal kick, sending it tumbling into the ground. Dodging another one, he stabbed the Kunai into its back while simultaneously giving it a powerful knee.

"Is that all you've got! You're falling apart marrow brain!" he taunted.

Quickly shoving off the creature, he rushed towards another before stopping suddenly, his face a few inches from the disgusting human..thing.

"Whoo! You need a mint brother." he stated before swiping the Kunai at its neck, the creatures head tilting back as blood pooled from the wound.

Not missing a beat, he ducked, and leaned into open arms, his Kunai stabbing into the heart of the attacker behind him.

"How's your sister?" he asked with a smirk.

Giving it a rough shove, the monster fell to the ground, leaving the blonde as the only thing standing. Looking over his handy work, he couldn't help but whistle.

"Well, they're obviously not alive." he mused.

A strong grip on his leg made him wince, as his eyes darted to the hand of the creature he just stabbed in the heart squeezing it tightly.

"_Shit! Strong!_" he cried inwardly.

Quickly slashing the creatures arm off, he leaped back, only to gape at the scene before him. Most of the creatures were once again standing, even the one that had half of its head loped off by his Kunai. The only one that wasn't standing was the one who's head he crushed.

"The head! That's the only way to kill it!" he whispered.

The creatures groaned and made their way over to him.

"I don't have time for this shit!"

Naruto flipped the creatures off, before turning around and pumping Chakra into his legs, wincing as the leg the monster grabbed pulsed with pain, it would heal later so he didn't stress it. In a flash he was gone, rushing towards the school.

-TWTL-

* * *

"Enough of this! Stop this insane behavior!"

A busty female teacher with long brown hair, a single bang falling over her face, and a pair of glasses stated as she and two others faced a strange man who continued to walk into the School gate without stopping.

"Stop it! If you don't we'll call the police and-"

She was cut off by a taller man with black hair and a bit of facial hair on his face.

"Hold your horses Hayashi-sensei!" the man spoke as he placed an arm before her.

He raised his sleeve and gave her a grin.

"We don't have to call anyone just yet, all we have to do is show him who's boss!"

With that being said, he reached through the gate and gripped the dazed looking mans shirt, before pulling him in roughly.

"Now look here you son of a bitch!"

The woman identified as Hayashi gasped at the display, worry imprinted all over her expression.

"Wait, Teshima-sensei don't be so forceful!" she cried.

Teshima turned to her and opened his mouth to speak, when he felt a powerful grip on his hand, strong enough that the two could hear cracking. The man gripped his arm and screamed loudly, the pain making him howl.

"Teshima-sensei!" Hayashi cried.

"No! Stay back! T-This guys strength.." His screams increased in that second as the other man bit into his arm, then ripped out a large part of it.

From above, Takashi watched this all with horrid shock.

"W-What the hell?.." he whispered as he took a step back.

Teshima fell to the ground screaming. "My arm! He ate my arm!" he screamed.

Hayashi fell on her behind in shock, as she watched her college, and secret lover squirm around in pain. From around them, a near by student and a teacher rushed to help. The teacher falling next to the man and placing his hand over the wound, while the student and Hayashi continued to watch in shock.

"S-Shit! I can't stop the bleeding!"

Suddenly, the body went limp, and all eyes widened even more.

"H-He's dead.." the new teacher whispered.

Right after he said that, Teshimas hand twitched, and his head tilted up, although something was gravely wrong.

Hayashi rushed to his side, and placed his head in her lap as tear fell from her eyes.

"Teshima! You're alive!" she cried. The student and teacher gave a small sigh of relief.

Teshima suddenly gripped the busty woman's shirt, and pulled some of it down, reviling a large amount of cleavage. Just as he was about to rip a chunk of her neck out, a Kunai flew into its head, knocking it back into the ground, blood spilling all over the now wide eyed Hayashi.

"W-What.."

"Get away from him!" a familiar voice cried.

Before anyone knew it, a black and orange streak rushed past them, before stopping in front of the gate, another Kunai stabbing into the attackers head, before being ripped out, letting the body fall, truly dead.

The older teacher and the unfamiliar student backed up in fear, before running off, screaming their heads off, towards the safety of the school.

Hayashi however continued to stare at the head of her lover, the Kunai still lodged in it. Her stare turned cold as she glared at the blonde before her.

"You.." she whispered.

Naruto shook the the blood off of his weapon, before turning to the woman.

"Yes, me, the guy who just saved your ass. Hayashi-sensei! Get up, we need to get in-"

She suddenly sprang up and began to pound on the taller blondes chest.

"You killed him! He was alive, and you killed him!"

Narutos eyes narrowed, and he suddenly dropped his Kunai and grabbed the woman before staring dead into her eyes, slightly shocking the tear ridden teacher.

"Yes, I killed him. No, he was not alive, he was dead..but alive." he paused "Look! It's hard to explain, but something seriously screwed up is going on, and if I hadn't killed him..again, he would have killed you, and you would have been like that dude at the gates, along with him."

She began to cry harder, and the teen let out a frustrated growl.

"Fine! We do this my way!"

He picked up his Kunai, and walked over to the one that was lodged in the now dead mans head, then, he tore it out, before wiping the blood on his light blue shirt. He then flicked his wrists, and both Kunai disappeared into their hidden spot.

Naruto then picked up the woman bridal style, and dashed towards the gate, the familiar sounds of groans slowly invading his hearing, as more of the 'dead' began to walk and stumble into the large courtyard.

"Naruto!" a familiar voice cried, making the blonde look up to see Takashi leaning over the school roof railing, his eyes wide and disbelief written all over his facial expression.

"Takashi! Get inside! Something weird is going on! Stay away from creatures like the ones you just saw, and try to be as quiet as possible, if you need to fight, aim for the head!" he yelled, before rushing into the school.

His direction, the nurses office.

Takashi swallowed before shaking his head.

"_What the fuck is going on here!"_ he thought as he rushed inside as well, his direction, Rei.

In the span of a few minutes, he found himself catching his breath as he stood in front of a surprised class.

"Komuro-san! Not only do you find the need to skip my class, but now you interrupt it!"

He was effectively ignored as Takashi made his way to a girl with long brown blondish hair, put up in a long ponytail with brown eyes wearing the schools standard girl uniform, her body more developed than most girls her age.

This was Rei Miyamoto, and right now, she was staring at the tense teen as he made his way towards her.

"Come on, we need to go." he whispered.

"Huh?" she blinked.

Takashi gritted his teeth, and suddenly grabbed her arm before pulling her up.

"What are you doing, I'm in the middle of class and-"

"It doesn't matter! We need to go!" he interrupted.

Pink hair suddenly jumped around as Narutos house mate stood an glared at the duo, or more at Takashi.

"Komuro! What are you doing!" Saya asked.

Next to her Hisashi stood and grabbed Takashis shoulder, forcing him to stare into his old best friends eyes.

Takashi growled, before giving a sigh.

"There was an incident at the gate, someone murdered Teshima-sensei, and Hayashi-sensei would be dead too if Naruto didn't save her.."

Hisashi gasped.

"That's terrible. Are you serious?"

"Why would I lie about any of this?" he stated.

Rei, having enough of being ignored, tore herself away from Takashi grip.

"Hey! Don't you keep your explanation a secret from me Tak-"

Slap!

The action left the whole class stunned.

"Listen to me dammit! We need to go! Now!" he growled out.

Hisashi steeled himself, while Rei continued to gape at the hysterical teen. Grabbing Rei, and missing Takashis jealous stare, Hisashi smiled apologetically to the teacher before motioning for the girl to follow him, Takashi giving him a nod and moving with the two.

"Sorry sensei, we need to go."

"Igou! Now you too!"

We're the last things they heard as the door to the class shut behind the three teens.

Saya narrowed her eyes, and looked around the room. From her hand, she pulled out her phone, under the desk, and turned it on to check the news. She felt slightly surprised when there was a text on the screen from her blonde haired house mate.

"_Saya! Get out of class, find somewhere safe to go! With Takashi or find me if you can! Something weird is happening, avoid anyone who is acting strangely, try to be quiet, and if you have to fight, aim for the head! I hope you're safe! See you soon!_"

The pinkett blushed lightly and flipped her phone closed.

"_Takashi is long gone, but if Naruto is worried, something is up._"

She felt a little angry that her childhood friend had just left her, but she had more important things to worry about.

Suddenly standing up, she ran out the door and into the empty halls.

Takashi continued to run in front of the two, Rei behind him, still asking questions.

"What the hell is going on!" Takashi grunted and stopped, the two following suit.

"Something happened at the front gate." he responded.

"Something happened at the front gate..that's _it_!." she cried in disbelief.

Takashi sighed.

"There was some strange guy, these teachers went up to check it out, when all of a sudden the stranger bit the male teacher, the teacher then tried biting Hayashi-sensei, but Naruto stopped him and saved her."

Rei gave him an angry glare.

"You expect me to believe that!" she cried.

In an uncharacteristic way, Takashi leveled the girl with a dark glare.

"You don't want to believe me, fine, go get yourself killed." he uttered.

Rei was taken back, but before she could say anything Hisashi interrupted.

"Hold up. Follow me."

Takashi and Rei glared at each other once more, before the girl locked arms with the teen and nodded, neither of them noticing Takashis anger grow. The trio made their way into the locker rooms, as Hisashi opened up one of the storage closets, before pulling out a broom. He then stepped on the end, making it snap in half, and handed the make shift spear to Rei. Takashi on the other hand gripped a bat in his hands, and turned to Hisashi, giving him a nod as a thank you.

"If Takashis story is true. We'll need these."

"What about you?" Komuro asked.

"I'm a black belt, so I'll be fine with my fists." he explained with a smile "Right now, we should get out of the School, I'm worried about my family."

"We should meet up with Naruto too."

"Hold on! Before we do anything we should call the police! My dads a detective, so he'll come for us right away."

Takashi reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, before handing it to the girl.

"Give it a shot."

With a nod, Rei took the phone and dialed the necessary numbers, it rang a couple of times before someone picked up, and a robotic voice spoke.

"This is a recording. We at the 110 are held up at the moment, if after calling again, we still do not receive your call, please wait, then try again." Rei felt her heart stop.

"What could be happening that has 110 all jammed up?" whispered Takashi.

As if on cue, there was a static sound, before the voice of the school principal spoke.

"Attention all students and teachers! I repeat! Attention all students and teachers! At the present time, there is a violent struggle occurring on the premises!"

Takashi tensed, as did Rei and Hisashi. Saya tilted her glasses up as she turned a corner, and narrowed her eyes.

Naruto stopped just before the nurses office, and felt his heart start racing, from excitement or from a feeling of foreboding he could not tell, but he knew things were about to change, so when he opened the door to nurses office to find a shocked large breasted woman with curves in all the right places, long blonde hair and a dazed look in her brown eyes, he quickly laid the still in shock woman he rescued on the bed and shut the door, before turning to the nurse.

"Ano, Uzumaki-san?" she asked.

The principal continued to speak.

"Students, stay with your teachers and follow their instructions!"

There was a sudden loud bang, and the sounds of groaning could be heard, making the blondes eyes widen.

"What the-No! Stay away from me! No! Stop! STO-Arrrggghhhh!"

The pained screams sounded through out the whole School, and there was silence..then, their was nothing but Chaos.

Students rushed out of their rooms screaming their heads of, as did teachers, shoving and kicking, treating each other as nothing but trash. Men pushed women, stepping over them, teachers kicked over their students, it was pure hysteria.

"Shit!" the whiskered teen mumbled.

Naruto turned to Shizuka and spoke in urgency, as he looked out the window to the chaos below.

"Marikawa-san, this woman is suffering from shock. Everyone is acting crazy, and I can't keep her safe, please watch over her, keep the door locked, and stay in here, do not make a sound. If you find yourself having to fight, aim for the head. I have to go!"

Before she could even say anything, Naruto flicked both of his hands, and the two Kunai from before appeared from his sleeves, before rushing out into the swarm of students and teachers.

From across the School, Saya hid behind a corner, watching the chaos with widened eyes. Never had she expected something like this. Her eyes caught a crouched figure near by, and moving quietly, she found herself standing over one Hirano Khota, a chubby teen with spiky black hair, and two long bangs over his face, that stopped just over his equally dark eyes.

"Hirano.." she whispered.

Kohta turned to the pinkett and gave a fearful smile.

"T-Takagi-san."

"Let's get out of here!" she stated, receiving a nod from the chubby teen.

With the trio, Takashi, Hisashi and Rei were running the opposite way of everyone else, much to the confusion of the only girl.

"Weren't we just about to leave!" she asked.

"The classroom building is full of people, we're going to escape through the administration building."

Takashi responded as they turned the corner, only to stop when they heard the sound of groaning and footsteps, from the other corner, a shadowed figure approached slowly.

"Wait! Isn't that Wakisaka from current events? Is he going to stop us?"

Any further questions were cut off as Wakisaka approached, although his skin was as gray as his eyes, blood falling from them, his jaw widening to impossible lengths, a large chunk of his leg gone.

At the sound of Reis voice, Wakisaka rushed towards her, surprising the three at his quickness. Rei took a step back, and tripped on herself, before falling on her behind, staring at the now falling Wakisaka. Her eyes quickly narrowed, and she gripped her make shit staff tightly as she mumbled to herself.

"Don't ever underestimate the Sou-jutsu club..is capable of!" she cried.

She suddenly sprang forward and with expert skill, pierced her fellow student in the heart with the spear. To her surprise, the teen kept advancing, shocking all who were present.

"W-What? I-I pierced his heart.." she whispered in shock.

From behind Wakisaka, Hisashi gripped him in a vice hold, and pulled him away from the spear, a sickening squelch following.

"Hisashi! Let him go, he's not normal!" Takashi stated.

The other teen gave a grin in response.

"Don't worry! If I can pull him off the-"

He was cut off mid sentence as he found himself struggling even more, Wakisaka breaking the hold easily.

"W-What! How is he so strong?" the shocked Hisashi uttered.

In the blink of an eye, Wakisaka bit down on the shocked Hisashi, and tore off a good amount of flesh. In that second, a familiar voice spoke from within Takashis mind.

"_If you need to fight, aim for the head!_"

His blonde friends words rang true in his head, and with a cry, he slammed the bat over Wakisakas head, cracking the skull, and watched in satisfaction as he fell to the ground, dead.

Takashi panted, and continued to stare at the unmoving body, while Rei rushed to Hisashi side.

"He...he was dead..he was already dead, and he came back to life.."

Takashi whispered, although Rei and Hisashi could hear him.

"Hisashi, are you alright?" questioned the brown haired girl.

"Y-Yeah! It's just a flesh wound, he didn't get any of the vitals." he responded with a reassuring smile.

"We need to go!" Takashi hollered.

From behind them, more of the walking dead were moving towards them, with a nod, Hisashi stood with the help of Rei. The trio headed to the stairs, and looked down below, cringing at the sounds of screams and agony.

"W-We can't go down there!" Rei whispered.

Takashi turned his eyes to the set of stairs leading up and gave himself a mental nod.

"Let's go to the roof! We could get a better look at things."

The two nodded, and without a second glance back they headed to the roof.

-TWTL-

* * *

Naruto sighed as he ducked under another of the undead, before giving it a deadly blow to the head, ending it's existence.

"_Why does weird shit always happen to me?_" he thought.

Moving silently through the now empty halls stained with blood and random moving corpses. None of them bothering the blonde because of his silence.

"_I mean, seriously! If Sasuke is alive, I bet he's not dealing with this!_"

Grumbling to himself, he turned a corner and evaded another one of the infected as he liked to call them, the blonde had long figured out that if you were bit by one of these things, you became one of them.

"Ha, and they said I was dumb!" he cried out, making a pose.

However, his loud proclamation attracted the attention of the near by infected, making the blonde pale.

"Fuck me!" he stated.

Empty halls equals echo.

Echo equals bad.

The sounds of groaning and screeching as well as footsteps alerted the blonde to the hoard of infected heading straight for him.

"I really don't have time for this!" he roared.

Naruto looked at a near by window and rushed for it, before kicking into it, glass shattering all around him, some of the infected followed the noise and fell from a three story height to their end.

Naruto however soared through the air, his black coat fluttering behind him. The teen raised his hands and formed a cross with his fingers before calling out his signature move.

"Shadow Clone!"

He winced as a pain filled his insides, but from underneath him, there was a puff of smoke, before an exact solid replica of the blonde curled into a ball appeared. The loud puff alerted many of the infected underneath him, although they could do nothing about it. Landing on his clones back, he pushed off and crashed through another window, before rolling into another hallway. He then sprung up and turned to his falling clone.

"Thanks for the lift!" he grinned.

The clone grinned as well before disappearing in another puff of smoke.

Naruto scanned his surrounding for any of the infected, and when none where in sight, he rushed.

Just as he was about to turn the corner he fell to the ground, blood spilling out of his mouth as he held his gut.

"S-Shit!" he cried.

The Shadow Clone took more Chakra than most Jutsu, a Jonin could only make about ten and even then, he would be down on his last bit of Chakra. For him to try that was stupid, especially with his handy cap. From his blurred vision, he saw the stairway leading up to the Astronomy Clubs roof.

"_Takashi..maybe he went back._"

Forcing himself up, the blonde took a deep breath, he knew he was on the east wing of the building, and that Takashi had entered through the west wing.

So their was a chance that this door was locked, but the blonde had no other choice, the lower levels were in Chaos, and it would put his powers out in the open. Taking another deep breath, the teen headed for the roof.

-TWTL-

* * *

Takashi gaped at the pure chaos around him, as did Hisashi and Rei.

From all around the city, there were fires and smoke rising high into the sky, you could hear the screams from all over. It looked as if the world was ending.

"What the hell do we do now.." the teen mumbled.

"What do you mean what do we do now! Look around, think about it. This seems like the end, everything we have taken for granted-"

The sound of copter blades interrupted her, and from above, multiple choppers flew, inside were men with guns, each decked out in the Special Forces gear.

"Rei!" Hisashi cried as he hugged the girl close.

Takashi lowered his hand, and tightened his fist in anger and jealousy, he was about to do the same thing.

From the other side of the roof, the small door was kicked off of its hinges and busted open. The trio tensed, but a familiar voice caused Takashi to relax.

From the door, spiky blonde hair danced around as Naruto chased after the choppers.

"Oi! Assholes! Over here!"

Seeing as they weren't going to turn around the teen gave them the middle finger, and turned to the now sweat dropping group muttering curses to himself.

"Taka-chan! It's good to see you're alive!" the teen grinned.

Takashi sighed, and face palmed.

"Naruto..please, stop with the nicknames."

"I think it's rather cute." added Hisashi with a chuckle "Don't you Rei?"

The girl seemed to be staring into nothing, but quickly shook out of it and gave Hisashi a small smile.

"Yes, very cute!"

"_I used to call Takashi that..when we we're younger._" she thought inwardly.

Naruto just continued to grin, but his eyes wandered over the only girl of the group.

"_So, this is Rei huh? I've seen her around, but never this close up. Cute._" he mused.

His eyes drifted to the other male, Hisashi, or more, the wound on his arms.

"_He's been bitten._" he moved to Takashi "_Do they know what happens if you get bitten?_"

"You kids sure look like you've been through allot." the whiskered teen commented.

"You look like you've been through a blood bath." responded Takashi.

In a way he was right, the blondes clothing were soaked with blood, the red standing out against the black and orange, even his hair was stained with the liquid, as were his hands.

"Nah, no trouble at all."

In the hallway leading up to the nurses office, a purple haired sword wielder blinked at the scene before her. Their were literal bodies stacked over the door to the nurses office, blocking anyone from getting through, of course one could remove it, but in the chaos, time was precious, and no one wanted to waste time.

"Yup, no trouble at all." he finished.

Somehow, they doubted that.

Takashi was glad to his his friend was alright, but they had more pressing matters to attend to. The bat wielding teen moved to close the door they had just came in from, only to growl when it would only close half way.

"The door is broken, there's no way to separate ourselves from them."

"Them?" questioned Hisashi.

"Yeah, I mean, this may all seem like a video game or movie, but we can't exactly call them 'zombies' now can we."

Hisashi gave him a nod, Naruto shrugged, thinking his name was better, and Rei was just worried about their safety.

"We should head up to the observatory, from there, we can block the stairs." As they all agreed to the plan, the group made their way up the stairs, only for Takashi to be stopped by Naruto, when the teen turned to ask the blonde what was wrong, he was silenced by a pair of icy blue eyes.

Rei and Hisashi turned to the two, but before they could ask what was wrong they were silenced by Naruto.

"Go on, I have to tell Takashi something important."

Rei did not like this.

"Now hold on, we shouldn't be keeping secr-"

Hisashi however tugged on her arm, and motioned for her to leave the two alone, but not before giving the blonde one last look.

"_His eyes..who is this guy?_" he thought.

Once the two were out of range, Takashi turned back to his blonde friend, to find him leaning on the wall, his eyes staring at the city.

"Do you know how the infected become infected?" he asked.

"Uh, no but-"

"A single bite, and you're done."

That single sentence sent the world crashing down on the dark haired teen.

"W-What?"

Naruto closed his eyes, and twirled the Kunai in his hand.

"If you get bit, you become one of them. That's how it's been spreading so fast. The virus, it spreads through fluids, but they must enter the body directly, such as saliva. When it comes in contact with your skin, there's no problem, but when it gets inside of you, that's where it starts."

"S-So.."

"Hisashi has been bitten, and you have a choice to make." he finished.

From the door, familiar groans could be heard, signaling their approach.

"As much as I would love to stay with you guys, you don't need me here, I just wanted to make sure you were safe. Now I need to go find Saya. Stay safe Takashi. You have to do what you have to do, his life is over, and you must end it."

"Hisashi!" Rei cried from atop the observatory.

Takashi wiped his head around to the sound of the cry, distress clearly written on his expression, before turning back to his blonde friend, only to find him gone, a trail of blood and dead bodies with stab wounds in their heads leading to the broken door. Giving the door one last look, Takashi rushed up the stairs to find Hisashi holding his own blood in his hands, and a weeping Rei sitting down next to him.

"Just like in the movies..a single bite is fatal." he spoke calmly.

"No! This isn't a movie! It was just one bite! You're going to be fine!" Rei cried next to him.

Hisashi chuckled softly and then stood.

"Takashi, let's set up the barricade."

Giving a slow nod, the two set to work, and in a couple of minutes, they were safe. Or as safe as anyone could be for the time being.

Hisashi coughed up blood once more, and pointed shakily to the edge of the roof top.

"Takashi, c-could you do me a favor?" he asked.

"What is it?" the dark haired teen questioned.

"Over there, if you push me off of here, the fall would crack my skull."

Takashis eyes widened, as did Reis, only tears began to fall from hers even more.

"No! This can't be happening!"she cried.

Hisashi began to shake and quiver before tilting his head back, blood shooting out of his mouth, while Rei hugged him tighter.

"I-I don't want to become one of them.." he whispered before falling back on the ground.

Rei fell over him and began to bawl, while Takashis grip on the bat tightened, his friends last words along with Narutos ringing loudly in his mind.

"Hisashi! No!" Rei cried "Hisashi.." she whispered.

"Rei.." Takashi spoke as he gripped the bat with both hands "Let go of him."

The teen saw his dead friends hand twitch, meaning it was already over.

The girl sprang up and gripped the taller teens shirt tightly.

"No! You can't do it! He won't! Hisashi won't turn into one of them! He's different!"

"Rei!" Takashis voice snapped her out of her rant, and she stared into equally brown eyes.

"Look at him!" he ordered.

Hisashi was now standing, although slightly hunched over, blood dripping down his jaw, and dead gray eyes staring into nothing.

"This can't be real!" Rei mumbled.

Takashi glanced at the girl behind him, and felt his heart ache.

"_Would she act this way for me I wonder.._"

Shaking those thoughts away, he faced the person before him, someone he once called friend, before bringing the bat down on his head, crushing it in a show of gore, and just like that it was over.

Takashi looked at his handy work, and felt the need to swallow his upcoming throw up.

From behind him, Rei sobbed.

"Why.." she asked "Why did you do that?"

"He was going to eat you if I didn't Rei." the teen responded.

Rei stood slowly, still shaking from her tears.

"I-I wanted us all to be okay, to make it out together! If Hisashis going to leave me behind just because he got bit! Then! Then I want to become one of them too!"

Her words shook the teen to the core, his nails digging into his skin as he clenched his hand tightly.

"I don't think he would have wanted that.."

"And what do you know Takashi!.." there was a malice in her voice now.

"You were just jealous of Hisashi! You secretly hated him because we we're together!" she screamed.

Those words cut deep, and Takashi had no response. Instead, he just turned and walked towards the barricade, something that scared Rei.

"W-What are you doing?" she asked meekly.

"Going together will only cause problems. I'm going alone to fight them."

He began to climb over the wall of stacked objects, only for a hand to stop him.

"No! You can't fight all of them by yourself! Stop!" the pleading look in her eyes seemed to strike a nerve in the dark haired teen.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!"

The teen fell from the barricade and faced the crying girl, the girl he loved, his bangs shadowing his face.

"Please! I'm sorry! Let's go together!" she whispered at the end.

Just like that, she found herself in a strong and warm embrace, feeling safer than ever before. From above the telescope of the observatory, a puff of smoke was washed away by the wind.

-TWTL-

* * *

Naruto smiled as the memories of his clone rushed into him, he ignored the pain as he calmly walked through the piles of bodies, twirling the two Kunai in his hand, his eyes closed as he whistled a small song. From all around him, infected began to approach, all with the intent of tearing into him, but the blonde continued to whistle.

_This world had just gone to hell, what this meant for me, I didn't know, what I did know is that their was no way I was going to die. I had new friends, new precious people to protect, they were my reason to exist now. _

_My will to live, and I would die to defend them. _

The teen snapped his eyes open to show rippled eyes reflecting the faces of the deformed and dead before him. With a wild grin, he stopped twirling his Kunai and extended his arms in a welcoming gesture.

"Let's get wild!" he cried.

-TWTL-

* * *

PLEASE READ A/N

This chapter, was such a pain to write, twelve pages! Anyways, I hope you guys caught the Spongebob reference in the beginning, which I do not own. By the way, Adm, if you just so happen to find this, please let me know if you're going to remove it for anything. I gave you the warning, if you delete without warning me, that's a violation, at least let me fix the mistakes. Anyway, I hope I got Naruto down, he's still himself, but he has matured, after all, meeting his dad, and a new world will do that to anyone, the Tenkai will be explained, as will everything else.** Also, their will be allot of love plots and triangles going on, so just because one thing seems one way, it does not mean it's that way, remember that! **I also just learned about the brackets that separate chapters, cool stuff! Anyway! Please review and tell me what you think, good, or bad, constructive criticism would be helpful!

**Also! A big shout out to these reviewers!**

ShINaiX

Nasha-Rei-kun

KeneticKaiser

'A fan'

You guys give me the best reviews! A big thanks to everyone else too! You all make me want to write so much more, and the story is seemingly quite well liked. I look forward to pleasing you all more!


	5. The Great Escape

**The Will to Live**

I do not own Naruto, or HOTD. Please excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes, I still do not have a beta. Enjoy! **This chapter may contain gore, and language, among other things.**

Chapter V

"The Great Escape"

-TWTL-

* * *

Carnage.

It was all that could be said to sum up the on goings of the campus, and one blonde haired Shinobi had a front row seat to it all. The teen rushed past student and infected alike, taking down as many as he could while effectively saving any cornered teachers or students.

"_How many damn people are in this school?_" he thought as he turned another corner.

He had searched high and low for his pink haired friend, and nothing came up, he even stopped to call her, but he was sure her phone was the last of her worries right now.

The whiskered teen could feel himself getting tired, he had been running non-stop, and the use of his Chakra was really starting to take a toll on him, the infection had spread almost everywhere from what he had seen when atop the Astronomy Club roof, his clone could see past normal distance with his Rinnegan activated, and all it picked up was fire, smoke, and corpses walking around ripping chunks off of other people.

It was a literal hell.

He hoped the make shift barrier that he created over Shizukas office was enough to keep her safe, although he was sure someone had already took it down by now.

Channeling more Chakra into his legs, the blonde winced at the pain but effectively ignored it, before disappearing from the normal eyes line of sight and moved at inhuman speeds through out the school, if there was one place he knew everyone would meet up in, it was the main hall, so without a second thought, he moved even faster.

"_I need to hurry. They could all be in trouble._"

* * *

Shizuka sighed to herself as she watched her fellow college down a glass of water, a hollow look in her light brown eyes.

"We're in trouble. Neither the police or the fire department are picking up. I examined one of the students who was bitten, and he was dead, then he came back to life and tried eating me!" she cried.

Kyoko glanced at the busty blonde and sighed as well, she had just woken up from her shock induced sleep a little while ago to all of the Chaos going on.

The ping-pong clubs adviser repressed a shudder at the memory of her beloved being pierced by a Kunai. She gripped the cup in her hands tightly as anger coursed through her being, anger at the blonde trouble maker who had saved her life.

"_How dare he act so calm about it!_" she thought in a heated rage "_Taking my beloveds life, the only person who kept me sane in this world. Without him, I might as well have be dead._"

The woman inhaled deeply and calmed herself.

Was she wrong for blaming the young blonde?

No, she wasn't blaming him at all.

Their could have been a way to save Teshima, but because of the blonde, he was long gone, taking the last piece of happiness she had with him.

While she was lost in her thoughts, she never noticed the other blondes eyes studying her with interest.

"_That look in her eyes, something must have happened. She might be suffering from more of the shock._" the busty woman sighed "_Where is Uzumaki-kun when you need him?_"

* * *

From the other side of the School, the blonde Shinobi sneezed as he sneaked by a group of the infected. Or, was sneaking, until he sneezed.

"Dammit!" he cried loudly as they all turned to him.

Realizing his mistake, the blonde let anime tears fall from his eyes as the walking corpses rushed to him.

"_Why Kami, why?_".

* * *

Back with the two women, Shizuka nodded her head to herself and moved to one of the cabinets that contained her first Aid equipment, intent on having something to at least help anyone she could as they moved through the school.

From behind them, a student who was sleeping peacefully not even ten minutes ago was beating away at one of them who had breached through the window furiously, intent on protecting the two women behind him.

Turning his head at the two, he growled to himself as he finished off the infected, one who had been a friend of his and then spoke.

"Hayashi-sensei! Shizuka-sensei! We need to get out of here!" he cried desperately.

That seemed to snap Kyoko out of her funk, and the woman stood suddenly, her breasts bouncing around electing a blush from the student.

The teen swallowed as the flesh moved around, unfortunately his moment was cut short as all the windows in the room exploded with multiple hands and bodies of the infected, each trying to make their way in.

The young man screamed as one of them grabbed onto his shirt, the scream attracted more of their attention, which cause even more hands to grab onto him. His screams increased as one of the infected sunk its grotesque maw into his arm, ripping out a good chunk of meat.

"Sensei!" he cried in pain.

The two women watched on in shock as more of them bit into the young man, his screams increasing until finally, he found enough sense to pull back, wincing as more of his flesh was taken from him, before stumbling and falling to the ground.

The infected continued to fight their way in, before the door finally busted and they swarmed.

"I-I don't want to die like this.." the teen whispered as he gripped his arm in pain.

Kyoko and Shizuka could only look on in shock as the infected approached slowly. Before they could come any closer however, long purple hair swept through them, and in the span of ten seconds, they all dropped dead, various wounds on their body, courtesy of the Bokken in the hands of one female swordsman.

The girl wore a modified version of the school uniform for girls, the skirt being longer, and going past her knees, as well as the shirt being baggier, but you could still tell of quite the body that was covered by the clothing.

This was Saeko Busujima.

Senior, and president of the Kendo Club.

The older student moved to kneel before the injured male, and placed a hand on his shoulder before giving him a small smile.

"I respect your courage in protecting Marikawa-sensei, as well as Hayashi-sensei. What is your name sophomore?"

The injured teen swallowed before speaking, the pain becoming even more intense.

"Ishii...Kazu.." he managed to mumble.

Saeko nodded, and looked deep into his eyes once more, ignoring the small blush that fell on the dying teens face.

"Kazu-kun, do you know what happens to those who are bitten?" she asked.

The boy managed a shakily nod, while Shizuka and Kyoko continued to watch, the later remembering what Naruto had done to her lover.

"Would you want your loved ones to see you that way? I have never killed anyone, however.." she trailed off.

"P-Please..do it.." he mumbled out with a smile.

Saeko gave a nod, and raised herself up before gripping her Bokken tightly.

"W-Wait! What are you doing?' the busty blonde questioned.

"Stop this! There must be a way to save him!" Kyoko followed.

"Please, do not interfere. For all we know, there is no way to cure them, and this is his request, I must honor him."

Without saying another word, she raised her wooden blade, and with expert handling, swung her hand, ending the boys life and splattering blood on the opposite window, the two women cringed, but felt as if it was for the best, well, one of them did.

Turning away from the scene, Saeko bowed to the two older women and smiled.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, my name is Saeko Busujima. You had quite the shield out there, I was going to remove to see if anyone was safe in here, but they beat me too it."

"Shield?" Shizuka repeated.

Saeko motioned for the two to look to the destroyed door, or more like the piles of bodies outside.

"Oh! That must have been Uzumaki-kun!" Shizuka chirped happily.

"Uzumaki-kun?" questioned both women.

One for the familiarity that she held with the blonde, the other because of what she had heard.

Saeko had heard much about Uzumkai Naruto, the Hellish Prank King, the most interesting Sophomore as some of her fellow seniors had called him.

The young blonde was even rumored to be the reason why a local Yakuza seemed to crash over night, seeing as whenever one of the ex members caught sight of him, they would rush off in fear.

"Do you know Uzumkai Shizuka-san? You seem familiar with him." questioned Kyoko, her eyes narrowed.

The blonde nodded with a happy smile on her face.

"Yes, Uzumaki-kun has visited my office many times before, he also helps out at the local Hospital." she responded.

The answer seemed to satisfy the two.

Although it left the youngest with a unique curiosity. Moving her curiosity aside, Saeko slashed her Bokken quickly at nothing, the blood spraying off of it, then turned to the older women.

"We must go, it is not safe here anymore as most of the School has already fallen victim to whatever this disease is."

With that, she moved towards the door, stepping over the dead bodies, and giving a small prayer in her head for the fallen.

Without another word, Shizuka and Kyoko followed the girl.

* * *

Saya sighed for what felt like the dozenth time today.

She crossed her arms under her impressive bust as she watched Kohta search through out the room for anything they could use to defend themselves.

The school grew eerily quiet, expect for the random scream or groan.

It was for the best however, she suspected that the monsters reacted only to sound, she need only to test her theory.

The other teen blinked as he watched his companion take on a thoughtful expression.

"Ano, Takagi-san. What are you thinking about?"

Now normally, the pink haired girl would explode on the other teen, but her time with Naruto had mellowed out her anger, as she took on some of his carefree attitude.

Although, she still had her moments.

"Nothing. Keep searching." she responded with a glare.

She still had some work to do though.

Kohta nodded quickly and started up his search again. The two had been running for a couple of minutes now, until Saya decided that since they were close to the Engineering Clubs room, they could use some of their technology to defend themselves, how could he say no, he would do whatever as long as he could be safe.

The teens eyes drifted to the pink haired girl once more.

"_She's so pretty._" he thought to himself.

Sed girl caught him staring at her and had to repress an eyebrow twitch, they were in life and death situation, and yet he was still admiring her looks.

Men.

"Hirano. Come here, help me with something really fast."

The teen did just that.

He stood and walked two where the taller girl was. He peeked over her shoulder, as she was leaning over a desk overlooking something, that something happened to be a assortment of tools that they could effectively use to defend themselves.

His eyes landed on the biggest of the tools, a gas powered nail gun.

Says noticed and voiced her thoughts.

"Do you know what this is?"

Kohta nodded.

"Yeah, it looks like the air powered nail gun from Letha Weapon Two. It's this movie I saw while I was away at-"

"Yeah Yeah. Can we use it?" Saya interrupted.

"No, if it's not the air powered one, there's no point in taking it with us."

The pink haired girl gave a loud sigh.

The sound of tapping alerted the duo the the window where more of them began to stack against it, their images hazy and hidden under the thick mirror, but the outline was clearly visible.

A sudden strange look grew on Kohtas face as he stared at the make shift gun.

"There's one spare canister of gas.." he mumbled to himself.

Picking it up with his left hand, while simultaneously reaching for the sets of nails he let a smirk fall onto his face.

Saya began to sweat as they knocked on the window, their above human strength causing cracks to form along the sturdy glass.

"Get up! We need to go now Hirano!"

The male continued to ignore her as he pointed the nail gun, his eyes focused solely on the weapon.

"It's about four kilograms heavier, stability might be an issue."

Saya felt her temper rise, and she grabbed on to the boys shoulder turning him to her, only to widen her eyes at the look he gave her, a small grin creeping on his face.

Without warning, the undead slammed into the door and windows, pouring into the room.

"Shit! Hirano!" Saya cried.

Kohta took action quickly, using some tape, he wrapped it around the weapon to hold the nails in place, he then took a knee and aimed at the incoming walking dead.

"Put that drill, those nails, and the gas in a suitable place." he ordered.

Saya growled, no one ordered her around, and just as she was about to speak, Kohta fired.

Each shot landing a heat shot, the corpses dropping to the ground one by one.

Anything Saya had to say was dropped as she was more occupied with gaping at the other teen.

Shaking her head, she grabbed the bags and turned to Kohta.

"Come on, we have to get out of here!" she stated.

The teen nodded his head, and the duo ran out of the room.

"Huh?" questioned the boy aloud as he looked towards the window, watching as water fell over it.

"Is it raining?" he questioned aloud.

"Who cares!" Keep moving!" Saya repeated.

The chubby teen nodded his head once more, and gripped the make shift gun before taking off with her.

As she ran, the pinkett let her thoughts wander to a certain whiskered blonde.

"_Naruto, __please be okay._" she thought.

* * *

The blondes black coat fluttered lazily behind him as he waked calmly through another deserted hallway.

It seemed as most of the undead began to center themselves in the lower levels, considering that's where most of the kids ran.

Twirling his bloody Kunai, the blonde took a step down the stairs, wincing as more of the putrid smells assaulted his senses.

He could practically taste the blood.

"Man, so much for the Arcade after School.." he mused.

Blue eyes suddenly widened "Shit! Morita!" he cried out.

The blonde ran to the near by window, over looking the dorms, only to see them over run with the walking corpses, more students running around like chickens with their heads cut off, while some had already been captured and turned into a meal.

Naruto slammed his fist on the window, his strength breaking it easily, but his hand bled from the glass.

"Morita.." he whispered.

What could he do now.

His friend was probably one of them by now.

"_No! Morita is a clever guy, I'm sure he's fine. Just need to focus!_" he told himself.

Taking a deep breath, the teen weighed his options.

"_I could send a Shadow Clone, but that would slow me down. If I run to the dorms, then I can save him, but then Takashi, Saya, Hayashi-sensei and Shizuka-san will be left without protection._"

Gritting his teeth, the blonde raised his fingers and in a puff of smoke, there stood a perfect replica of him.

"Fuck it. You know what to do." the blonde commanded.

The clone nodded and jumped out of the window to the grounds below, before making a mad dash to the boys dorm.

Naruto closed his eyes and rubbed his temples as the familiar pain coursed through him.

"_Focus on your breathing, relax, control your thoughts, control the pain_."

He remembered those words well, as the Kyubi had told him that when he first started his Tenkai training. He swallowed the blood that was forced through his throat with a wince.

Steeling his resolve, he walked slowly along the hall, glad that he could take a small break at least.

"_I've wasted enough Chakra. I haven't used clones in a year, my body needs to get used to the tole they take on my Chakra. This rift energy needs to leave already, I'm barley at full power right now, not even fifty percent of my Chakra is usable without killing myself._"

With a sigh, the blonde continued with his task.

While he did that, the clone rushed through the court yard, slashing and dashing at any of them that came near him.

"_Boss says to find Morita, so if we know him like we do. He was probably trying to peep at the girls._"

Just as he was about to increase his speed, a cry caught his attention.

"Uzumaki-kun!"

The blonde turned to the sound only to see one of his most disliked teachers.

He was a tall man with dark silky hair, wearing a striped dark suit, his eyes were a yellow color, squinted and sharp, giving him a snake like appearance, reminding him much of Orochimaru.

This was Koichi Shido, and he, along with a one familiar face were rushing towards him.

"Damn the honor we share.." the clone whispered to himself.

Shido, along with the two students he was with caught up to him.

He recognized the first as Yuuki Miku, who was undoubtedly one of the most attractive girls in the school, however, she also had a reputation more famous than her looks.

As Narutos clone, he was never one for rumors, seeing as most of his creators childhood, rumors were what kept him from making friends with the younger generation, so he didn't particularity believe them.

The other was a male, tall and with brown hair, although the top part was dyed blonde, he didn't quite know him very well as his name didn't ring any bells, but it didn't matter at the moment, what did matter was Morita, and these people were wasting his Chakra and time.

"Uzumaki-kun!" huffed out the teacher as he approached.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" he spoke with a sickly sweet smile.

The clone knew he shared Narutos feelings, and he was right about feeling the need to wipe that smile off of his face.

"Shido-sensei." he nodded.

"Are you trying to escape as well, if you are, you're heading the wrong way." the teacher advised, smile still in place.

The clone shook its head.

"No, I'm going to search for a friend of mine. Then meet up with a group, before getting out of here." he responded.

That got a scoff out of the brown and blonde haired teen behind Shido.

"Screw that, they can save themselves." he commented.

"And who are you?" the clone of the blonde questioned.

The teen seemed to not like the tone of his voice, as he stepped up to Narutos face, being slightly taller than the blonde and growled.

"Tsunoda is my name you little punk, watch your tone. This world has gone to hell, so I would have no problem killing you!" the taller teen roared.

"Lower your voice." the clone ordered.

Tsunoda growled once more, and gripped the blonde by his shirt, before pulling him up in an impressive show of strength.

"Don't order me around!" he roared.

The clone sighed and gripped the teens wrist, before squeezing tightly, the taller boy cried out in pain and let go of the blonde as he stepped back and held his wrist in pain.

From the sidelines, Yuuki and Shido watched the exchange with different reactions.

"_This boy, he's strong, and skilled. Form the looks of his clothing, he must have been the one slaughtering these walking shit stains. I could use him._" the older man thought, as he withheld a devious smirk.

Yuuki on the other hand watched the exchange with mild interest, mostly surprise.

"_I'm sticking with them, because they seem to be the most likely to survive, and Tsunoda is one of the strongest guys around the school, but Uzumaki just swatted him like a fly. Maybe...maybe I should go with him instead, he seems allot nicer than these two._" the girl was cut out of her thoughts by the clone speaking.

"I said, lower your voice."

The clone twirled the Kunai in his hand and motioned to the now approaching undead.

"They react to sound, and you just attracted them with your unnecessary yelling." he finished.

Tsunoda scoffed, but felt sweat form at his brow as the infected began to run, instead of walk, towards them. He was about to high tail it out, when an arm pushed him back on his behind.

"Stay behind me." the clone ordered.

_"If it was up to me, I would leave you to die, but I'm his clone, so I can't._" the blonde duplicate thought.

Giving a sigh, it stopped twirling the Kunai, before rushing off to face the approaching undead. What would happen next would shock the ongoing viewers.

The blonde began to expertly dance around them, killing them swiftly and quickly, it was as if he had been doing it all his life. In under ten seconds, all of them were on the floor in a pool of their own blood.

Shido shouldn't help but shudder.

"_If I have him on my side, the possibilities would be endless. I don't even think trained officers can fight like that._"

Tsunoda was quickly regretting his decision on messing with the blonde, as he witnessed the show of brutal yet effective slaughter.

Yuuki was seriously re thinking on who to travel with.

The clone turned back to them, and shook his Kunai of some of the blood, then with a small wave, turned back to the direction of the dorms, and just as he was about to take off, Shido spoke.

"Wait! Uzumaki-kun, come with us! You could be of great help!" he bargained.

The Naruto clone shook its head a no.

"Sorry Shido-sensei, but I have a friend to save."

The man growled to himself, but kept a clam smile on the outside.

"Come now, Uzumaki-kun. Be reasonable, what are the chances that your friend survived. The Dorm is full of kids, there's no way he could still be okay."

The clone did not respond, instead it turned and seemed to stare at something else, then it just gave another wave as it took off.

Shido growled, and turned sharply to the two, his anger hidden expertly.

"Come, I'm sure he'll join us sooner later, someone like that will not die easily."

Tsunoda nodded, but Yuuki was still watching the blondes retreating back.

"Miku-san, come, we must hurry." the snake like man spoke.

Yuuki gave a hesitant nod, before turning to the duo and running along with them, although her mind was on something else.

"_He looked at me, and I could tell exactly what he meant to say.._" she thought.

Her eyes looked to the older man next to her.

"_Stay away from him._"

Yuuki couldn't help but shudder to herself, she had a choice, survive with them and lose her sanity and will, or die. Her fear of death was great, but what was a life controlled by another.

The clone finally made it to the Dorm, and seeing as the door was already busted open, made his way in.

He ignored the bodies, unmoving or not, and rushed towards the girls room, a feeling of anxiety rushing through his system, and this was unlike the time his creator, along with Morita and Takashi snagged some peeks in the locker room either.

"_Finally!_" it thought.

Busting in, he ignored the randomly moving bodies of the undead girls, some clothed, some not, and chose to rush to the locker in the very center.

It was a utility locker, large enough to fit around for or so people, and the Physical Ed instructor never let anyone in, little did she know that with Narutos help, and Moritas raging perverseness, they managed to convert it into their very own peep spot.

The clone felt its heart pump, and as he used his creators inhuman strength to rip open the locker, noises be damned, he was shocked to see a wincing Morita holding a wounded arm, leaning in the corner.

"N-Naruto!" he cried in shock.

He seemed suprised to the see the blonde, or what he believed to be the real blonde.

The clone only gaped, here was one of his first and closest friends, along side Takashi, they we're the big three.

The inseparable trio.

Now, cruelly ripped apart.

"M-Morita.." the clone whispered.

The boss was not going to like this when he dispelled.

The Mohawk teen gave a grin in response.

"H-Hey buddy...looks like I got myself in a bit of a situation.." he mumbled weakly, a strong cough tearing through him as blood spewed out.

"Shit man!" the clone exclaimed.

Dropping one of his Kunai, he rushed to his friends side.

"Morita! Fuck man! Fuck!" the clone exclaimed.

Sed teen only waved his hands weakly, a small smile on his face.

"C-Can you believe it man..here I w-was. Minding my own business, s-sneaking into our spot, when t-this chick with her chest all o-out is walking towards me. Then all of a s-sudden, she bites my arm. What a b-bitch right?" he chuckled at his own joke.

The clone remained silent.

"I-I've been watching e-everything that's b-been going on through the hole...I-I'm going to turn i-into one of them if you don't k-kill me.." he continued.

The clone picked his friend up slowly and carefully, still not speaking.

"H-heh, r-remember that one time, w-when we j-jacked my dads car and d-drove it around the c-city. T-Then we s-snuck into the strip club-"

"Then Takashi drank for his first time, and he hurled all over one of the strippers." the clone finished.

"Haha, then we h-hauled ass out, and you got behind the w-wheel, and almost k-killed us all."

Naruto hugged his friend as he moved his arm over his head, the Kunai poised behind him.

"Y-Yeah, I remember.." the clone whispered.

"H-Hey, N-Naruto...thank you, for being my f-friend.." he finished as his eyes closed.

"No problem buddy.." the teen whispered in his ear, and in one swift move, jammed the Kunai in his head, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

The real Naruto made his way through the last of the halls, finally reaching the lower levels of the school.

He need only step down one more set of stairs and he would be meeting everyone soon, as he was sure this was the only safe way to escape. He knew Takashi, Saya, and Shizuka knew that.

Just as he was about to take his first step, his eyes winded, and he was attacked by his clones memories.

The blonde felt his whole body shake, in sadness and in anger.

"Fuck..Morita!" he whispered.

The whiskered teen growled, much like an animal would, and slammed his fist onto the wall, creating a dent in it.

"_Damn you Shido! If you wouldn't have slowed me down! I could have saved him! I should have just left you to die!_" he cried in his mind.

He could feel the rage bubbling up, along with the familiar energy that he has come to know as the Kyubis Chakra.

He would have lost it, had it not been for the familiar cry from below.

"Die you little shit! Die!"

"_Saya!_" the blonde thought.

Putting his grief away, the blonde rushed down the steps just in time to see his pink haired friend jamming a screw driver into the head of one of the infected, blood spewing all over her.

"Shit!" he cursed.

Ignoring everyone else around him, and the approaching dead, he scooped the shocked girl up bridal style, while also flicking one of the Kunai he had out behind him, ignoring it as it blew through two of the undead before finally piercing the last one, making it tumble and fall down to the level below.

"Saya! Are alright?" the blond exclaimed.

"N-Naruto.." the girl mumbled.

Suddenly realizing the situation she was in, she grew a heated blush and pushed herself off of the teen and gave him her back, crossing her hands under her ample chest once more.

"Yes! Never touch me like that again!"

The blonde gave her a dead pan stare.

"_Yup, she's fine_" he thought.

"Uzumaki-kun!/Naruto!" was the cry from Shizuka and Takashi, both of them glad to see the blonde was safe.

The teen turned to the duo and gave them a wide grin, it almost faltered however when he looked at Takashi, the memory of Morita still fresh in his mind.

Something Shizuka did not miss.

"Hey guys, the hero always arrives just in time." he stated.

He was oblivious of the attention he had drawn to himself.

"_That was an amazing show of precision._" a certain purple haired sword wielder thought "_He didn't even look, and he threw it with enough force to tear through bone and muscle fiber. Uzumaki-san, you truly are an interesting one._" she mused.

"Wahh! That's Uzumaki Naruto! Number one Sophomore in all of Fujimi High!" squealed Kohta in a fan boyish kind of way.

Saya felt her eye brow twitch at the chubby boys reaction.

"I suggest you never do that again, if you want to be friends with him." she whispered.

Curse Naruto and his unbearably bright personality, attracting weirdos to him like moths to a light.

Kyoko felt rage bubble up inside of her at the sight of the blonde, and yet, she also felt gratitude to him for saving her life.

"_I can't get close to him, I wouldn't even be able touch him with the kind of skill he just displayed._" She grit her teeth, and took a breath to calm herself.

"_I don't understand why I'm so mad, he saved my life._" her eyes darkened again "_He killed my lover._"

Her inner turmoil was interrupted by the sound of more infected approaching.

Naruto flicked his wrist, and his last Kunai sprung to life.

"Look sharp, we've got company. I've got center." he spoke.

Saeko gave a nod "I shall take left."

"Rei!" Takashi cried.

"Got it, we've got right!"

With that, the three were off, Saeko quickly ended her side, while Rei and Takashi tag teamed and tore through the infected in their way.

Naruto...he was a bit different.

He walked through the corpses, slashing randomly at them, but still somehow killing them, until only one stood in his way.

The tension grew as the blondes eyes got unnaturally cold, all eyes were on him as he bent low, and twisted the Kunai in a reverse position. The whiskered teen tapped his foot loudly, and the last one of them reacted to the noise by rushing.

In almost untraceable movements, Naruto stood behind it.

Nothing seemed to happen, until blood gushed out from its head, and two arms, all three appendages dropping to the ground, followed by the body.

"Looks like you've just been.." he reached into his coat, and pulled out a pair of black sun glasses, then with a snap, he placed them over his face "Disarmed."

Just like that, the tension was gone, and Takashi face planted while Saya face palmed.

Shizuka giggled while Saeko gave a small smirk, and Kyoko didn't know whether it was impressive, or just plain stupid.

Kohta...he was doing a very good impression of a worm as his eyes shone like stars.

"So cool!" he cried.

Naruto turned to Kohta, and walked towards him, before kneeling down before him, the stupefied teens expression reflecting on the dark glasses.

"Kohta-kun, it's nice to meet you in person, I've heard allot about your weapon skills from the local Gun club."

Suddenly, the background shifted into a familiar sunset with the waves crashing behind them.

"U-Uzumaki-san.."

"Please, call me Naruto."

The waves became even more intense as the blonde stood, his arm extended out in a peace sing, while he flashed a smile that strangely twinkled.

"Come Kohta-kun! From now on, you are my apprentice!"

Kohta felt anime tears of joy fall from his face. He nodded, and posed the same way Naruto did, the same twinkle in his teeth.

From behind them, the words 'Youth' sprung up, and two dolphins wearing identical green jumpsuits and matching bowl hair cuts and buhsy eye brows danced in the water.

Saya didn't know what was more horrible, the fact that that just happened, or the walking corpses..she was leaning towards the scene before her.

After the whole ordeal was over and done with Saeko turned to the now gathered group and gave a smile.

"Hello, my name is Saeko Busujima, Hayashi-sensei and Shizuka-sensei already know of me."

Rei gasped, as she was standing in front of a living legend on campus.

"You won the National Tournament last year! I'm Rei Miyamoto from Sou-jutsu club."

Kohta, now snapped out of his daze, stood next to Naruto with a small smile, and spoke in a meek voice.

"Ah, uh, I'm Kohta Hirano from class B."

The blonde next to him gave a bright grin as he twirled the Kunai in his hands.

"I'm Naruto Uzumkai, better known as the Prank King from Hell." he paused "And this little devil is Saya Takagi, resident Genius and loud mouth! Over there we have Takashi Komuro." the teen finished with a grin.

He ducked as the pinkett missed a swipe at his head, before sliding behind her and wagging his finger.

Saya turned to him, and was about to speak when her own image caught her attention. The girl was soaked in blood, not as badly as Naruto or some of the others, but still, it was enough to make her feel dizzy.

"O-Oh my, look at me, I'm a mess. I'd better clean up before I go see my mother.." she whispered.

Then suddenly, it all came crashing down.

She felt a strong pair of arms warp around her, and before she knew it, she was sobbing into the chest of the blonde Uzumaki.

Everyone else watched, keeping a silence in respect for her, they were all losing their sanity slowly. It was only a matter of time before it all came crashing down on them as well.

The small moment of rest was interrupted as more groans sounded from down stairs, it seemed like the body that dropped with Narutos Kunai lodged in its head mad quite the ruckus, just as they did.

Naruto glanced at Saeko, the only other trained warrior in the premisses from what he could tell, and gave her a nod, one which she returned with a small smile.

"Come on, let's go upstairs and find somewhere to hide out at, we can plan an escape from their." he ordered.

The group nodded, and as Saya pushed away and wiped her eyes, she couldn't help but blush.

"_I'm so pathetic..this is the second time he's seen me do this. When did my mission go from find out who Naruto was, to cry on his chest every time you feel bad._"

"Hey." the blonde whispered.

Golden brown eyes stared into deep blue ones (the glasses somehow gone), and she was suddenly reminded of _that_ night.

A much younger version of the blonde stood in front of her, a bullet hole in his shoulder as he squeezed her hand tightly.

"Everything is going to be alright." he spoke reassuringly.

The same words he said to her a year ago.

"Takagi-san! Naruto! Come on!" Takashi spoke as he and Rei, along with the others waited patiently atop the stair leading to the upper rooms.

Giving the pinkett one last glance, the blonde gave her a small smile and motioned for her to follow. Nodding, the two ran up stairs, and once they were together, the group searched for some form of safe haven.

In a matter of minutes the group found themselves in a large room.

Takashi leaned on the wall while Kohta sat in a chair beside him, looking out the window to the outside. Naruto washed the blood away from his Kunai in a near by sink, while Shizuka was sprawled out over a desk, Saeko beside her, a thoughtful expression on her face. Kyoko stood by the window next to Rei, who was busy staring outside as well.

It was Takashi that spoke up first.

"We need to get out of here. Hayashi-sensei or Shizuka-sensei, do any of you have your car keys with you?" the dark haired teen asked.

"No, I left mine in the Ping-Pong clubs room." the brownish red head replied.

Shizuka however was busy searching through her small purse, a victorious smile fell over her expression as she pulled out a set of keys.

"Right here!" she stated.

"Will your car be able to hold us all?" the sword wielder questioned.

The victorious smile fell as quickly as it came, that seemed to answer everyone's question.

"What about the buses?" Kohta commented "They're still here, and we have all the keys in with us in this room."

Naruto shut off the water and dried his Kunai with a near by rag, and with anther flick of his wrist it was gone, back to its hidden location inside of his sleeve.

"Seriously, how no one ever noticed you have a dangerous weapon on you at all times I'll never know." Takashi commented with a smirk.

Naruto gave a grin as he took to leaning on the wall next to him.

"Trademark Ninja secret."

Takashi and Saya both groaned.

"You still going on about that?" they both spoke.

The blonde only held up a peace sign, and gave them a foxy grin.

"Ano, Komuro-san. Where would we go anyways?" the busty blonde questioned.

The dark haired teenager seemed to think it over before replying.

"We go check on our family's, then once we are sure they are safe. We try and find some sort of safe house, I'm sure the Special Unit and the Police should have everything under control by then."

As if on cue, the television that showed nothing but school announcements changed to the news, courtesy of the disaster awareness center. All eyes fell on the woman who was standing on a random area of the city, behind her, chaos.

"_Due to large riots erupting all over the City and the Nation, the regular emergency response has been neglected. When questioned on their ability to respond to this strange outbreak, the representatives gave no response. Now here I am in-_" she was interrupted by the camera shaking, and a load cry of pain, before the screen went blank.

"What the hell! Why aren't they showing more!" Takashi questioned, his eyes wide.

He wasn't the only one, everyone held heir own degree of shock. This was more than just a simple virus, it was spreading faster than any of them could ever imagine.

"They don't want to cause panic." the pinkett responded as she adjusted her glasses.

The television continued to relay the same message.

Stay inside, lock all windows and doors, and await further orders. It continued by updating viewers on the situation all over the world, the United States, The United Kingdom, Europe, South America, Africa, Australia, Asia, all have been contaminated.

It was unbelievable.

"This..this is impossible. The disease is spreading like wild fire." Rei uttered, her eyes wide as she gripped Takashis arm tightly.

"If this is just like the Black Death, and Influenza, then we're in trouble." mumbled Saya.

"The what now?" questioned the whiskered teen.

"They were two of the most horrible sicknesses ever to strike man, the Black Death alone wiped out one third of the population of Europe." Kyoko responded "You should have payed more attention in World History this year Uzumaki."

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"_She seems to have recovered well_." he mused "_Although, the way she looks at me, I'll have to keep my guard up around her._"

"How did they end?" it was Kohta who asked a question this time.

"They just disappeared, it seemed people had finally grown an immunity to them." Shizuka answered.

"That's not going to work, this virus bring the dead bodies it kills back to life. So no ones is going to be building an immunity to that." the busty blonde finished.

"So you're saying there's no cure?" Kyoko questioned, a slight look of madness crossing her eyes, although no one seemed to notice.

"Who knows, the main priority right now is to survive, as a team." Saeko finished.

Naruto gave a smile to that, the words of his old Sensei ringing up in his head. He quickly squashed those memory's down, as they would do nothing but distract him at this point.

"Yosh!" he cried, slamming his fist into his open palm "Let's do this then! As a team!"

The others, even Kyoko seemed to brighten up at this, and with that, everyone grabbed their stuff and rushed out of the room and into the hall.

For a second, their positions froze, Naruto and Takashi in the front side by side, one with a serious expression while the other grinned like a fox.

Saeko and Kohta behind them, each holding their respective weapons tightly, a small smile on the female while a huge grin was placed on the male, in between them Rei held her make shift spear tightly, an expression of pure concentration on her face.

Behind them, Saya, Shizuka, and Kyoko stood next to each other, the first adjusting her glasses while the blonde smiled brightly, the last of the three held a small and focused frown.

With that, they were off.

The group ran down the stairs to the second level, while Saya gave them helpful information.

"Guys, they react to sound, so be as quiet as possible, I'm sure most of you have realized that by now. Also, they're strong enough to rip a door off of its hinges, so melee combat is out of the question. Don't over do it, we're just trying to escape, knocking them over is fine, only fight head on if you have too."

"Right!" the group chorused.

As they reached the final set of stairs that lead to their escape, they noticed a small group of people, three boys, and two girls cornered by them, the boys had surrounded the two girls in an effort to protect them.

"Shit!" Naruto cursed as he flicked his wrist, the now clean Kunai springing to life once more.

The action gave out an unspoken command and the four weapon wielding teens charged down. Naruto stabbing the Kunai into one of the male undead head, while Saeko crushed another skull with her Bokken.

Takashi doing just as Saeko did, but with his bat, wile Rei stabbed her spear through one of the head of another, and Kohta shot nails into the last ones brain, ending its life on the spot.

"Are you guys alright?" the bat wielder questioned.

"Y-yes! Thank you!" one of the girls responded rather loudly.

"Lower your voice." Saeko commanded softly, making the girl nod.

"Are any of you bitten?" she asked.

"No! None of us are." the same girl responded.

Rei looked them over before turning to the Bokken wielder.

"They all look fine." she finished.

Saeko gave a nod, and motioned for Saya, Shizuka, and Kyoko to come join them.

"Ahh man, I just cleaned this thing.." the Jinchuuriki wined as he looked on his now once again bloody Kunai.

Saya sighed as she walked past the blonde, and moved to look down below her.

"Naruto!" she cried suddenly.

The blonde blinked and moved to stand next to the girl.

"What?"

The pinkett pointed at familiar body near one of the large shoe lockers. On its head, was the Kunai Naruto had thrown not even half an hour ago.

"Baby!" the teen cried as his eyes grew wide.

He grinned as he ran down the steps towards the body, only for a slender hand to grab onto the back of his long coat.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" the girl genius whispered heatedly, all attention was on the two now.

"I'm getting my Kunai back, they react to sound, as long as I'm quiet they won't even see me coming." he responded with a care free grin.

The girl sighed, and let go.

"Well, I guess we can test my theory with you." she finished.

Takashi turned to the small group and gave them a smile.

"Would you like to come with us?"

The group nodded quickly, and the now larger group stood at the end of the steps, watching as the whiskered teen calmly waked over to the dead body, and pulled out his Kunai, sweat dropping when he hugged it to his chest, not even caring about the stains.

"_Doesn't he care that he just wiped someones else blood on him?_" Kyoko thought to herself.

"_Of course not! He's nothing but a killer! Why would he care!_" she responded to her own mental question, although more aggressively.

Naruto turned to the group and gave a thumbs up.

Giving a nod, they moved out, moving silently through the spacious room towards the double door.

Naruto opened one of the doors, while Takashi opened the other, and the two held them open as the others rushed out into the open court yard.

Finally, the last of the survivors, one boy carrying a large metallic stick that was used mostly to hang things from, and just as they were home free, the end of the metallic object bumped against the door.

"Shit!" the blonde cursed as all of the near by infected reacted to the sound.

"Everyone, run!" Takashi yelled.

That was the final straw, between the door and the yell, most of the infected had their attention drawn to them.

The group took off in a dead sprint towards the bus, Naruto clearing a way before him, while Saeko and Rei watched the sides.

Takashi and Kohta were behind, taking care of nay left overs. In the middle of them was Saya, Shizuka, and Kyoko, along with the unnamed students.

"Why did you have to yell!" Saya hollowed angrily.

"Shut up and run!" responded Takashi as he swung at another one of them.

"We're almost there!" Rei cried, feeling relief course through her very being.

A scream interrupted the moment as everyone looked back to see the make shift leader of the group they had rescued being grabbed by two of the infected.

"Takuzou!" shouted the girl that was running along with Saya.

"What the hell are you doing! You'll die!"

"I don't care!" the girl hollered as she broke away from the group and ran back to her lover.

"He's the only one I trust! What's the point of living if he's not there to live with me!"

Saya was absolutely shocked by the logic, and watched in disbelief as the two hugged and kissed, even as the infected tore into them.

Kyoko watched the girl and boy, and felt tears swell in her eyes, thoughts of her own lover invading her mind.

"_Now he's gone! I won't even have a chance to be with him, because of Uzumaki.._" her anger grew as she glared at the blonde in front.

All of her rage was gone in an instant as she looked into his eyes, eyes that in that very second reflected pain and loneliness, and a guilt that made her skin feel cold.

Then, just like that, it was gone, replaced by an unyielding flame.

She watched as the blonde began to tear into the infected even more wildly than before, moving ahead of the group and effectively securing a safe path.

"_What...just happened.._" she wondered.

Naruto stopped at the doors of the bus, and hurried everyone on, his eyes still holding the fire. One by one, they ran in, finally feeling safe.

Saya looked back to the scene and growled.

"I don't understand! Why would she do that!"

Shizuka sighed and turned to the girl.

"I understand. If the world is really this bad, then I'd rather die with the person I love, then live." the blonde explained with a sad smile.

Kyoko felt a pang in her chest, and the anger was back.

"You're supposed to be a nurse!" the pinkett exclaimed.

"Ano, Takagi-san, after all of this is over, will you finally consider going out with me?" Kohta questioned meekly.

From behind them, Saeko smiled.

"Oh my, I didn't know you two were that close, I'm envious." she commented with a smile.

Saya just blushed, and turned away.

From outside the bus, Naruto turned to the only person left outside with him.

"Takagi, get in the bus." he ordered.

"Naru-"

"Get on the bus, Kohta, if you can hear me, give me some cover. I'm about to clear a path for us." the teen spoke.

Giving a hesitant nod, Takashi entered the bus, while Kohta rolled down the window and positioned himself for maximum efficiency.

"Start the bus Shizuka-sensei!" Rei cried.

"U-Uhm, I don't know how! This isn't like my car!"

The busty blonde calmed her nerves and started the engine, before looking over the controls.

"A-B-C" she mumbled while pointing to the controls.

Once she was satisfied, she gave a happy nod, and turned to everyone.

"We're ready to go!" she hollered.

From the outside, Naruto gave a grin and nodded, finishing off one more of them and turned to enter the bus, when a familiar voice cried out.

"Wait! Uzumaki-kun!"

Blue eyes winded, and flashed red, before settling back down.

All eyes were now on the oncoming band of people, lead by none other than the snake himself, Shido.

"Who's that?" Kohta asked.

"Shido, from class 3-A." Saeko replied, a small frown adorning her face.

"Shido.." Rei whispered with malice.

Kyokos eyes narrowed at the snake like man, more than once had he tried making a pass on her.

"Shizuka-sensei! Hold on!" Takashi ordered as he made his way to the bus door.

Rei grabbed the teens arm and pulled him away, a fierce determination, with some hate in her eyes.

"We're not saving him!" the girl stated.

"What! What the hell is wrong with you!" Takashi yelled.

"That man, he's better off dead!" the brown haired girl responded just as loudly.

Back outside, Naruto glared at the incoming man, his grip on his Kunai tightening.

"_I should leave him to die.._" he thought darkly "_But he's got students with him, I can't let them suffer. Still, I could just cut him down now, and say he was bitten.._"

Naruto shook his head, and sighed.

"I'm starting to sound like Sasuke." he whispered to himself.

Pumping Chakra to his feet, the blonde took off towards the in coming group, surprising those already on the bus.

"What the hell does he think he's doing!" Rei cried angrily.

"The right thing!" Takashi responded as he freed himself from her grasp and ran out of the bus to help.

"Everyone! Hurry! They'll help us!" the snake like man yelled as he pointed to the bus.

He watched from the corners of his eyes as Naruto and Takashi cut down any of them attempting to end their lives. A small smirk made its way on his face.

"_Yes, assure my survival. You shall both be rewarded._" he thought to himself.

Once everyone was ahead, he turned and was about to run, when a hand grabbed onto his leg.

Shido looked down to see one of the students he had taken under his 'protection' wincing in pain.

"Shido-sensei! Help! I twisted my ankle!" the student whimpered.

Shido glared coldly at him, but let a chilling smile fall onto his face.

"I see, very well." pulling his leg back, he slammed it on the students face, grinning at the sick crack he heard from the now blooded face of the student.

"This is where we part ways my friend."

With that, he was off, leaving the screaming teen to his death, as more of them approached.

Naruto heard the teens scrams and turned to his direction and growled, pushing even more Chakra to his legs, he rushed towards the teen, passing a now livid Shido as he predicted the blondes motive.

"Uzumaki-kun! There's no time! If we waste anymore, we might all be in danger!"

At the words waste and time, Naruto felt himself stop, anger coursing through his veins.

"_Time wasting!_" he thought enraged "_If he hadn't held me up! Morita would still b__**e alive!**_"

He felt the Kyubis Chakra burn his system, increasing his anger.

Blue eyes turned to the still screaming teen, and then back to the bus, well aware that more and more of them were approaching. The blonde shut his eyes tightly, and glared at the suited man behind him.

"You can save him, but you'll be risking the lives of everyone else in the process!" Shidos voice echoed out.

From within the bus Saeko felt her eyes narrow, as did Reis. Both knowing full well, he was just toying with the blondes already in turmoil mind.

More of them were approaching, more than he could count, and in that second, the downed student screamed as they bit off his whole arm.

Blue eyes widened at the scene before him.

He was too slow, to indecisive once again, and once again, someone paid the price for his weakness.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto turned to the bus and ran, his anger leaking out around him as he carved a brutal path of blood through any of the undead that stood in his way, he no longer was aiming for the head as arms and legs, heads, and everything else fell to the ground.

To the viewers inside the bus, it was brutal.

Once he was in the bus, he turned to Shizuka, a cold edge in his usually warm eyes.

"Go!" he stated.

The older blonde nodded and slammed her foot on the gas.

"They're not human." she whispered as she ran over them "Not anymore.."

From the end of the bus, clapping could be heard, and all eyes fell on Shido, a smile on his face as he stared at the panting and blood soaked blonde.

"Well done Uzumaki-kun, you truly are incredible. I'm glad you're safe."

Naruto growled, but felt his exhaustion, both emotional and physical kick in, and suddenly, he didn't have the energy to fight with the man before him.

Shido smirked, and extended his arms.

"My, what a large group we have here." he commented "In such times, we must be organized, therefor, I say we choose a leader." the smirk morphed into a grin.

"You're going to regret saving him.." Rei mumbled as she passed Takashi and Naruto.

Somehow, they both knew she was right.

* * *

_I had never felt more pathetic in my life, I could have saved both of them, and yet, I let them die. All because of me, it made me sick to my stomach just thinking about it, and Shido, that bastard. The world really had gone to hell, and things had gotten rough, I needed to shape up soon, or else...if I only knew how bad it would really get._

* * *

**A/N PLEASE READ**

Hey guys hope you liked it, first things first, I don't want to sound like a review whore, but please review. I've already broken 100 Fav's, I would love to break 100 Reviews with this chapter. We're so close! I can almost taste it! Anyways, I want to thank you for the feedback, it seems like you guys are really liking this. I hope I did good with the Character development, and for those of you who don't understand Kyoko, she saw her lover get killed by Naruto, right in front of her, she is going to be pissed, and the trauma is going to cause some mental problems, anyway, I hope you like how I'm building things up, as for the night Saya was talking about, it will all be explained. Now, for those of you who might be like, OH, Naruto was totally a wussy. First off, he had been saving people left and right for hours, dealing with low Chakra levels, and the Rift Energy tearing through him, as well as trying to keep his powers a secret, give the guy a break, he's still human. I hope you're also liking how I'm developing his Character. He's strong, but still has much room to grow. Anyways, hope you listen to my request, thank you for all the reviews and feedback, Ja ne!

Next Chapter: "New World Politics"


	6. New World Politics

**The Will to Live**

I do not own Naruto, or HOTD. Please excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes, I still do not have a beta. Enjoy! **This chapter may contain gore, and language, among other things.**

**A/N I didn't realize how sort this chapter was going to be, and I'm not going to include Takashi and Rei's little adventure, so I've tried to make it longer. **

* * *

Chapter VI

"New World Politics"

* * *

The bus shook as it collided with more and more of the infected that stood in the way of the group of survivors and freedom. From inside of the large vehicle all eyes were on Shido, the snake like man smiling in an inviting way.

In the front sat most of the original group, and behind Shido was the group he came with. Tensions ran high through the vehicle, and now that everyone had a break, the horrors they witnessed were beginning to take a toll on everyone.

Tsunoda growled and stood, his eyes moving to the now deathly quiet Naruto for a second, before moving back to the entire group.

"Why should we even listen to you guys anyway! You decided where to go without even consulting us. I say we barricade ourselves back in the school in the dorms."

At the mention of the dorm rooms, Narutos grip on his Kunai tightened, something only Saeko and Rei seemed to notice.

"The dorms are out of the question, I was there. There's nothing but dead corpses walking around now." the blonde whispered, although it carried out through the bus.

Saya narrowed her eyes at the blondes tone.

"_Something happened._" she summed up.

Takashi however felt his eyes widen as a single thought crossed his mind.

"_Morita!_"

Just as he was about to turn and question his blonde friend, another voice spoke up, this one belonging to a shorter teen with tame dark hair and dark eyes.

"Well how about the station we just passed! It's not too far back from us!"

Before the blonde could reply, the half blonde tipped teenager growled and slammed his fist on the seat in front of him, anger and frustration reflecting from his eyes.

"Damn it!" he turned to Shizuka and yelled "Can't you drive this thing any faster! I-"

"Lay off me! I've never driven one of these things before!" the busty blonde responded heatedly, the stress getting to her, and the bickering causing her patience to grow thin.

The bus was silent, as the normally calm and kind nurse caught her breath from the loud proclamation.

Naruto felt himself smirk, something Tsunoda noticed.

"You, what the fuck are you smirking about!" he exclaimed.

The rest of the group continued to watch the tall teen explode on everyone, and no one was taking lightly too it, especially not the whiskered blonde he just challenged.

"Listen very carefully. I'm extremely exhausted, and right now, I'm in no mood for bullshit. Pull yourself together now, or you'll really be trying to pull yourself together once I'm done with you."

Tsunoda was frozen in place by those cold blue eyes, and the strange feeling of death that overcame his senses.

Everyone else was just as surprised as when Shizuka exploded, it seemed neither blondes were to be tested right now.

The blonde top teen shook in barley controlled rage at once again being embarrassed by the blonde, but simply turned away from the scene and sat down.

Kyoko repressed a shudder at the blondes tone, it was simply unlike the cheerful personality he always presented.

"_Do you see, it's all a fraud! His kindness is fake, that's what he's really like!_"

She repressed a wince as the same voice that had turned up ever since her lovers death spoke once more. She really needed a brake from all of this, the stress.

Everyone did.

From outside, it was pure chaos, the streets were stained with blood and bodies, some beginning to turn themselves. The sky was littered smoke and ash, and drivers raced down the streets in an attempt to get away, only to crash into others, and cause a barrier of sorts.

"Good boy." the spiky haired blonde whispered.

Turning to the teen sitting behind him, he let a small grin fall over his face.

"Takashi, I know what you're thinking. I'm sure Morita is fine, I couldn't find him when I went to check out the dorms, but he's a clever guy."

He hated lying to his friends face, but now wasn't the time to tell him the truth, he could barley handle it himself as it was.

Saya narrowed her eyes once again, having known the blonde the longest, she noticed that the grin seemed slightly forced.

"_What the hell happened?_" she wondered.

The brown haired teen gave his friend a small smile, and nodded.

"Yeah." he responded.

"What the fuck are you guys acting so happy about!"

As quickly as the smile came, it fell.

Tsunoda was growing even more intolerable, and this time his glare was fixated on the brown haired teen.

"You! I fucking hate you!" he cried, standing quickly and clenching his jaw.

Takashi was thoroughly surprised at the bigger teens outburst, having never met the blonde tipped male before.

"What? I've never even talked to you." he responded.

Kohta growled and moved to stand, only for Saya to place a slender hand in front of him, while Rei gripped her make shift spear tightly.

This was no time for conflict, and the large teen seemed to be set on starting one.

"You little bitch" Tsunoda growled.

He moved towards the teen, while the others looked on, each ready to intervene if necessary. Stopping in front of the sitting teen, he moved to grab his shirt, only for Rei to react quickly, slamming the dull end of her weapon into his ribs with enough strength to cause bruising.

Tsunodas eyes widened, and a glob of spit flew from his mouth as he fell to the floor, gripping his side in pain.

"You're horrible, just because you're under stress, doesn't mean you can take it out on us." the girl whispered.

"R-Rei." Takashi mumbled.

The golden brown haired girl turned to him and offered a smile, while the others visibly relaxed.

A small chuckle sounded from the back of the bus, and Rei visibly tensed at the sound, her smile dropping instantly.

"What a sight!" the snake like man stated.

He moved calmly through the other students, some of them looking up at him with admiring eyes, causing some of the others to frown in disgust.

"Excellent teamwork Komuro-kun, Miyamoto-san, it was wonderful." he commented.

He stopped just a little before them, and fixed his glasses with one hand, a devious look in his eyes as the glass reflected the faces of the teens before him.

"This however proves my point further, to keep conflicts like this from occurring, we need a leader." Shido finished.

Saya did just as the man, and fixed her glasses as well, leveling the older male with a deadpan glare.

"Let me guess, the only one who can bear such a burden would be you correct?" she asked.

The others seemed to frown at the idea, while Naruto himself fought down the rage he felt at seeing the snakes calm smiling facade.

"_I swear, he's like Orochimarus twin._"

Shidos smile grew wider.

"Well, I am a teacher, so I should be the only one qualified."

"Are you forgetting me Shido-sensei. I am a teacher as well." Kyoko commented.

The man frowned internally, but kept the calm smile in place.

"_I forgot about her, let's see..judging by the body I saw outside of the gates.._" he mused in his thoughts.

"Ah, Hayashi-sensei, I find it quite surprising that Teshima-sensei isn't with you right now. Did something happen?" he asked.

The red heads eyes widened, and the rage she was suppressing seemed to come back full force, her eyes darting to the blonde in the front.

Shido seemed to catch on, and repressed a chuckle.

"_I see, so Uzumaki killed him. How very interesting._" the snake mused.

"_T-That bastard! How dare he bring up Teshima!_" Kyoko howled in her mind "_And Uzumaki didn't even flinch! Does he not care! Is he so much of a cold blooded murderer!_"

The others watched on as the busty woman shook in barley controlled rage, lost in her own thoughts.

"As you can see, Hayashi-sensei is in no condition to lead, suffering from the loss of her beloved." Shido spoke.

Turning his back to Takashi and Rei, he smiled kindly at the other students.

"So how's about it? If you agree with me." he paused, his eyes turning more vicious "Clap your hands."

The group began to clap loudly, each of the teens looking up at the bowing man with a sick admiration in their eyes, while Shido absorbed the attention and support like a sponge.

Naruto locked eyes with a slowly clapping Yuuki. The girl stopped mid clap as she stared at the calm blue eyes, and bit her lip, she just wanted to survive, and the blonde looked about ready to collapse, so going with him would lower her chances of survival.

Breaking eye contact, she turned away from him.

"_Sorry Uzumaki, but my life is more important right now._" she thought.

Shido turned to the others and extended his arms, a wide smirk on his pale face.

"Majority rules, I am to be our leader. So from now on-"

He was interrupted as Rei turned around quickly and rushed to the bus doors.

"Sensei! Please let me out!" she stated.

"What?" the surprised nurse responded.

The long haired teen growled, before catching sight of an emergency door and pushing it open, everyone watched on in confusion as Rei jumped out of the bus and onto the streets.

"Rei! What the hell are you doing?" Takashi cried.

The girl turned to him and snarled, anger clear in her brown eyes.

"There's no way in hell I'm going to travel with that bastard!" she responded hotly.

Takashi growled and jumped out after her, causing Naruto to groan inwardly, and Saeko to stand while Kohta, Saya and Kyoko, the latter finally snapping out of her funk when Rei jumped out of the bus, moved to the window.

"What the hell! How can you even say that?" Takashi stated.

From inside, Shido sighed.

"Oh my, it seems I can do nothing to change her mind, she's a lost cause." he spoke easily.

The girl did not respond, instead she turned and moved to leave, only for Takashi to grab her arm and pull her back to face him.

"Until we get to the city! Just ay with us until then, it's too dangerous to go out there alone."

"I told you you'd regret saving him!" she responded, her eyes moving to the blonde inside of the bus for a second.

"This isn't the time for this Rei!"

He was about to continue when the sound of an incoming vehicle caught their attention, and all eyes turned to the out of control bus coming towards them at high speeds. From inside, screams and groans could be heard as the infected ripped through the surviving passengers.

"Shit!" Takashi cried as he tackled Rei to the ground, taking cover in the tunnel.

The out of control bus rammed into another car and flipped sideways, before ramming into the tunnel, causing a large explosion, and blocking the two from the group.

Naruto growled and quickly stood, before rushing out of the bus and onto the streets, both Kunai in his hands as he prepared for the incoming assault of undead.

Saeko followed his lead and took her place beside him, Bokken at the ready.

"Takashi! Are you alright?" the blonde questioned.

The brown haired teen nodded from the other side of the tunnel, and turned to the girl underneath him.

"Rei, are you alright?" he whispered softly.

The girl nodded softly and turned to the fiery scene, only to gasp as the undead walked slowly through the fire, heading for the two on the other side.

"Are you fucking serious?" Naruto growled.

The creatures groaned as their flesh burned, sending a putrid stench into the air.

"Naruto!' Takashi cried.

"Yeah!" he responded.

"Let's meet up at the Higashi Police Station!"

The blonde nodded and tensed as the fiery corpses grew closer.

"What time!" the blonde questioned.

"Five! If not today, then tomorrow!"

Naruto gave a thumbs up, and cut down the closest of the undead, while giving Saeko the signal to go back inside, watching as the other bodies dropped from the burns they sustained.

"Don't make me go looking for you Takashi!" the blonde hollered as he ran into the bus.

Takashi gave his long time friend a smirk, and turned to Rei.

"Come on, we need to find a car or something."

The girl gave him a nod, and the two dashed off.

"Shizuka-sensei, we can't go this way." Saeko stated as she took her seat on the bus, the blonde standing next to her wiping the blood off of his Kunai.

The busty nurse nodded, and turned the wheel.

"I know, we'll take the other road!" she responded.

Naruto sighed and fell to the seat next to Saeko, surprising the sword wielder.

"Good job out there." he commented with a smile as he turned to the girl.

The purple haired teen was slightly surprised at the random compliment, but smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, you are quite skilled yourself." she responded.

The blonde gave a wide grin, and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Hehe, thanks! I've been practicing all my life." he responded.

"And since when do you remember your life?" a familiar voice stated from behind him.

Naruto gulped at the small slip up, and turned to the now glaring pink haired woman, a weak grin on his face.

"Uhh.."

Saya huffed, and turned from him, a frown on her delicate face.

"So you were faking it." she whispered, although Saeko and Kohta heard it.

"Faking what?" the gun crazed teen questioned.

"None of your business!" the girl barked.

Naruto sighed and fell further into his seat, while Saeko spared him a curious glance, her eyes darting between him and Saya.

"_So it seems they have a long history together._" she mused.

She couldn't help the ever growing curiosity the blond enigma presented, his strength was enough to get her...darker side riled up, which was something dangerous all in itself.

From the seat to the right of them Kyoko glared at the blonde once more.

"_So you have secrets Uzumaki. Well, I'll make it my goal to find out these secrets, and use them to destroy you._" she thought.

"_Is it right for me to do that?_" she questioned.

Her eyes darkened behind her glasses, and she turned them the window, gazing out into the chaotic city before her.

"_Of course it is! He's a cold blooded killer. Not even affected by how much blood he's spilled so far._"

As her thoughts turned darker, she never noticed the curious eyes of one blonde headed nurse watching her from the rear view mirror.

"_What's that look in her eyes?_" Shizuka asked herself "_I need to talk to Uzumaki-kun soon, and find out what happened_."

Her eyes rested on the blonde, and felt a small smile tug on the side of her lips, as long as he was around, he would protect them with his life. Being a nurse, and working with people, she had a good judge of Character, and her first meeting with the blonde at the local hospital proved that to her.

* * *

_Twenty four year old Shizuka Marikawa moved through the plain white halls of the Hospital, nodding and smiling at some of the local doctors and patients. _

_The young nurse truly loved her job._

_ Ever since she was younger, she had always found herself enjoying the company of others and helping them, at first she thought that she wanted to be a psychologist, but quickly found that was not her field. _

_When she entered the medical field, and realized how much good she could do in it, and the talent she had for it, she fell in love. _

_"Marikawa-san!" a male vice called out from behind her._

_ Turning around, she smiled lightly at the approaching figure of one of the oldest doctors in the Hospital. _

_Taki Miniwa._

_ "Miniwa-senpai, how can I help you?"_

_ The old doctor was tall and had dark gray hair, slicked back, with a full beard and warm brown eyes, the kind that most older people have that told of years of experience. He wore a standard white coat, with a blue Hawaiian shirt underneath that, and black khakis, with brown dress shoes. _

_"We have a patient in Wing-C, he's having some issues calming down, and none of our nurses are having any effect on him, even the drugs aren't knocking him out. Could you go over to his room and help out, we could use as many hands as possible." he finished._

_ The blonde nodded, and motioned for the older doctor to lead the way. _

_"Can you tell me more about the patient?" she asked. _

_Taki gave a small smile and nodded._

_ "But of course, he's one of our regulars always getting into trouble. He even has his own file. He's a strange one, comes in full of bruises, and in a couple of hours, they're gone! Strange kid, but good heart. Always getting hurt helping others. This recent incident was from the fire that occurred downtown last night, kid rushed in to save a small cat. A cat!" the man gave a chuckle._

_ "Still, he's a good kid alright. The fire department is treating him to dinner later with them once he get's out." _

_Shizuka smiled at the story, her heart filling up with joy. _

_"He sounds very nice." she commented. _

_The old doctor nodded as he stooped in front of a door, the sounds of screaming and yelling from inside causing most people waling by to sweat drop, while the staff shook their head._

_ "I'd like you too meet." _

_He paused, and opened the door, revealing a standard hospital room, although it looked to be in chaos as doctors and nurses alike held down a mop of blonde hair as he tried to shake them off in his light blue hospital gown. _

_"Naruto Uzumaki!" he finished. _

_The blue eyed blonde blinked, before glaring at the doctor._

_ "Oi! Old man! Let me the hell out of here, the Fire Department is treating me to all you can eat Ramen!" _

_Chuckling, Taki stepped inside with Shizuka following._

_ The blonde blinking as the other blonde stepped in behind him, a blush growing on his face at the size of her...assets._

_ "Yo, Kyubi?" he spoke mentally. _

_"**What brat?**" the fox responded. _

_"On a scale of one to Tsunade, how big are those?" he asked._

_ The fox blinked from within the cage, before taking control of the blondes vision for a second, the teens pupil growing into a slit, although no one noticed._

_ "**What are you talk-Oh holy sweet Sage! Tsunade, definitely Tsunade.**" _

_The teen nodded to himself, and cut the connection to the being in his belly, letting it heal the rest of his wounds, and nap in peace. _

_"Uh, hi." he stated. _

_Shizuka blinked as well, taking in the teen before her. _

_"Whisker like scars, blonde hair, blue eyes. So this is Naruto Uzumaki, he's made quite the fuss at School." she mused. _

_"Hello, I'm nurse Shizuka Marikawa. Could you please relax, and we'll let you out as soon as possible." she stated happily, placing her hands in front of her body as she held her clip board, unknowingly making her assets bounce around. _

_In a flash, Naruto, along with the other male doctors bowed deeply, and spoke in a chorus. _

_"Yes Marikawa-sama!" _

_The woman nodded happily, making them bounce around even more, ignoring the jealous looks from the other nurses, and the blushing face of the doctor standing next to her as he covered his nose._

_ Once everything was settled down, and the blonde was back in his bed, the other nurses and doctors left, leaving Taki, Shizuka, and the younger blonde alone. _

_"Well, I must be off, I have another patient to attend too. Naruto, don't try to escape again, Marikawa-san, please make sure he stays put." _

_The woman nodded, and waved a goodbye as the doctor left. Turning to the frowning blonde, she smiled at him, and chuckled when he blushed. _

_"So you're the new student at Fujimi?" she asked._

_ Naruto blinked and nodded._

_ "Yeah, how did you know?" _

_Shizuka chuckled and placed her hands on her lap, raising her leg and paying it above the other one, unknowingly showing skin to the young blonde. _

_"Dammit Ero-sensei!" _

_"You've caused quite the ruckus there, I'm the head nurse at the School. I just volunteer here in the Hospital while I work on becoming a full fledged doctor myself." _

_The blonde shrugged, and fell back onto the bed, placing his arms behind his head and closing his eyes, allowing the older blonde to see some of the burns he received, although they seemed to be fading away. _

_"So, Miniwa-senpai tells me you saved a cat?" she asked._

_ The teen grumbled a yes._

_ "That was very heroic of you, but if you don't mind me asking, why? I mean, it was just an animal." _

_Naruto opened his eyes, and chose to stare at the ceiling. _

_"Maybe, but it could have been a mother cat, or a father cat, or maybe a son or daughter cat, and it didn't deserve death. If I have the power to save someone, human or not, I will." he responded._

_ Shizuka smiled warmly at him. _

_"I guess you're right Uzumkai-kun." _

_The blonde blushed a little at that._

_ "Close your eyes." she spoke. _

_"Wha?" _

_The beautiful blonde continued to smile._

_ "Just close them."_

_ Giving her a strange stare, the blonde closed his eyes slowly. _

_The older blonde leaned over and gave his forehead a small kiss, making the whiskered teen flush crimson. Snapping his eyes open, he jumped back and leveled the chuckling blonde with a confused and flustered glare. _

_"W-What was that for!" he asked. _

_His mind flashed back to when Tsunade first did the same thing to him, but this was different, Tsunade could be his Grandmother, this woman could be his older sister for Sage Sake!_

_ "That was for being so kind, and rescuing the kitty. Cat's are my favorite animals too!" she responded._

_ The blonde huffed and turned away from her. _

_"W-Whatever." he mumbled._

_ Shizuka broke into a fit of chuckles, and the blonde himself couldn't help the grin that fell onto his face. _

* * *

Shizuka smiled warmly at the memory.

"_To save someone, just because you can. You'd be surprised how many wouldn't do the same..Naruto-kun._" she mused.

Her smile however fell, as her mind drifted once more. She had seen the haunted look on the blondes eyes many times before, she was even there when he was entered into the Hospital late one night, with a bullet wound.

That was the first time she had seen the blonde shirtless, and saw the large fist sized scar on his chest. '

"_I wonder though, who has the power to save you._"

* * *

**A/V Authors Rant Please Read-**

**Alright guys, I need to get some things off my chest. For all of you wanting Shido killed, he won't be dying anytime soon, he's valuable as a villain, and very useful. As for some of people getting mad about Naruto. Let me remind you, this is Canon Naruto, with some slight adjustments. He didn't get super ninja training, like in other Fan fictions. Everything I have given him, he has, but has not accessed, I cannot stress this enough, CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, stop ranting at me for not rushing. It's my story, if you don't like it, don't waste your time. What kind of boring story would have Naruto tear through everyone, it would get boring. He will be facing far more powerful enemies soon, but he won't be the only hero saving everyone all the time. As for sticking to Canon HOFD, the story has just started. Things will be changing, don't expect a huge change, when they JUST left the School. I've already changed things enough and added some extra things. Anyways, thank you ALL we finally broke 100, I'm really happy. Sorry this chapter took so long, I've had some things to take care of. I'll make it up to you all next Chapter. Hope you liked it! Review! **


	7. Taking it to the Streets

**The Will to Live**

**A/N Here's the new chapter. Hope you like it! Please excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes!**

* * *

Chapter VII

"Taking it to the Street"

* * *

The large Japanese Jet stood tall over the random bodies of the infected that stood in the way of its take off, the small fog that had rolled up on the off port Airport blocking most of them from view.

From inside the cockpit, two men glanced at each other, before the Captain spoke.

"So that's it then, you've checked everyone out?" he asked.

The second man, the Co-Captain nodded, taking his seat next to the other man.

"Yes, there are no bitten or injured on board. We are ready for take off." he replied.

The Captain gave a small nod, and turned to face the controls.

"What about your family?" he asked.

"They're already dead. I called and no one picked up."

The Captain nodded solemnly, while the Co-Captain shut his eyes, fighting back the repressed feelings he chose to ignore, raising his hand, he clicked a button and spoke through a small head set.

"Tokonosu Tower, this is JX089. We are ready for take off."

A voice responded from the tower.

"JX089, This is Tokonosu Tower, stand by on runway thirty four, we have a problem."

The two pilots turned to the large window of the cockpit, watching as the fog cleared up, revealing a hoard of undead making their way to the large plane. Then, right before the two men's eyes, the undead began to drop to the ground, one by one, the loud bang of a sniper rifle sounding through the empty and large runway.

From above a ledge, a woman with long dark purple hair, tied into a ponytail with two bangs framing the side of her face smirked, this was Minami Rika, first squadron chief, and one of the best shooters in all the Country.

From behind her, a man with dark hair with a white Special Forces cap and a scar above his right eye, wearing standard first squadron attire smirked along with the Rika as he took his eye off the telescope he had placed to watch the show, and monitor the runway, this was Tajima Hiko, partner sniper to the Chief.

"Nice shot, they're all dead. You still haven't beat his record though." he stated.

Rika gave him a blank stare before standing up, placing her hands inside of her bullet proof vest, and massaging her rather large breasts.

Tajima looked taken back at her actions, but continued to watch as she rubbed the flesh mounds and sigh in content.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked.

The violet haired woman sighed, and removed her hands from her chest, then proceeded to stretch her body as she responded.

"I wasn't able too get any sleep this morning, so I was starting to feel numb."

At her response, Tajima grew a large perverted grin.

"I could give you a massage."

Rika smirked, and turned to her partner.

"If you can shoot better than me, sure." she responded.

The second sniper sighed as he stood, and groaned.

"Are you serious, weren't you voted one of the top five shooters in all the Country, the only person who can out gun you is-"

He was interrupted by a new speaker.

"Me."

Both of the Officers turned to new arrival, surprisingly a teen with dark hair that spiked up in the back, with two long bangs falling over the teen's face. Onyx black eyes reflected the two older people, while a thin smirk was stretched across his pale face.

He wore the same uniform as the other two, with a black bullet proof vest, but over his back was a Chokuto placed in a dark blue sheath. His undershirt was unzipped slightly, revealing his collar bone and neck, where a small coma like tattoo could be seen.

"Sasuke. Where have you been?" Tajima questioned.

The teen calmly made his way to the other two.

"I was called to take care of the South Side entrance, there was a large number of the creatures approaching."

"Oh? Who did they send with you?" Tajima asked.

The smirk fell back onto the dark haired teens face.

"They didn't send anyone else, I can handle it."

Rika turned to Tajima and chuckled as she removed the vest off her chest.

"Come on now Tajima, you think the number one marksman in all of Japan, Sasuke 'Red Eye' Uchiha, can't handle a couple of dumb meat bags?" she teased.

Tajima sighed as his two partners ganged up on him, and threw his hands up in the air in a show of defeat.

"Whatever. So, any news?"

The Uchiha nodded as he took a knee and examined the rest of the runway.

"We're not allowing any ships to dock, but people can leave if need be. The Engineers are all taking advantage of that and returning to the main land to see their family's."

Rika sighed as she took out a cigarette and placed one in her mouth.

"The new regulations are becoming a pain." she murmured as she attempted to light it "Anyone could leave next, and we're soon to run out of hands here."

Tajima sighed at that, and scratched the back of his head.

"Shit, we don't have unlimited ammunition either."

"Planning on leaving?" the violet haired woman teased.

"No, not yet." he responded "What about you? You have a friend there?"

Rika nodded as she closed her eyes, taking a drag of the cigarette, and then blowing the smoke out.

"I'll go sooner or later, but not now."

Tajima nodded, and turned to the youngest of the two.

"What about you Sasuke, you mentioned you were searching for someone a while back, think they're still alive?"

The Uchiha gave a small rare smile as he stared out into the horizon, watching as the sun slowly rose, for a brief second his eyes flashed red before returning to their cool dark color.

"He's alive alright, this Epidemic will only make it easier to find him. He has a knack for being very flashy."

The teen shut his eyes, and the smile fell into a smirk.

"_I know you're not dead, I can feel it._"

* * *

Naruto sneezed, and then blinked at the sudden feeling of nostalgia that hit him. Shrugging, he turned to watch the others, his eyes briefly meeting Sayas, before the girl turned from him and chose to talk to the just now awoken Kohta, courtesy of the blondes loud sneeze.

The whiskered teen gave a mental sigh, and turned to the back of the bus, his eyes growing colder as he watched Shido preach to the students, a feeling of disgust rising in his chest as they stared at him with admiration.

His eyes lingered on the still form of Yuuki, the girl had a smile on her face, but he could see it in her eyes, she didn't trust the man, unlike the others, they were beyond saving at this point, but he would be damned if he let her fall for the snakes false promises.

He turned his vision turned to the window, watching as people walked slowly past the bus, from family's to single children, crying as they screamed for their mothers and fathers. The whole street was overrun with cars, and you could barley move, all in all, they were sitting ducks.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair, and let his head fall back and hit the seat.

"_At least I could take a nap, I needed a break._" he mused.

He idly listened in on Kohta and Sayas whispering, watching as the pinkette turned an angry eye to the teacher behind them.

"So should we kick him out?" Kohta asked after the girls explanation.

He didn't like Shido, as he used to encourage people when they picked on him, but knowing that the man was manipulating the others for his own personal goals, well, it pissed him off even more.

"No, that would only cause problems, if they're weak minded enough to fall for him, they hold no place with us." her response was cold, and Kohta couldn't help the small shiver that ran down his spine at her words.

Turning away from the man, Saya sighed and fixed her glasses.

"We have more important things to worry about right now, like survival, we need a plan." the pink haired girl sighed "We need someone we can trust to lead us."

At that, she sent a small glare at the blonde haired teen across from her, although he didn't seem to notice.

Kohta however did, and he felt his spirits drop at the action.

"Takagi-san, do you like Naruto-san?"

Saya gave the teen a shocked glare, a small blush forming on her cheeks at his ridiculous, in her eyes, statement.

"Don't say stupid things like that!" she hollered.

Suddenly realizing that all eyes were on her, she blushed even harder and stood from her seat as she huffed.

"Think what you want." she murmured.

Walking to the front of the bus, she ignored the confused stare Naruto was giving her, giving him another small glare as she moved past him, before taking a seat next to Kyoko, the woman offering a small smile, which Saya returned.

Shidos preaching was getting louder, catching the attention of everyone in the front of the bus.

"Let's work together for our mutual survival! By working together, we shall triumph over this crisis!"

Saya, Saeko, Shizuka, and Kyoko narrowed their eyes on the man, while Kohta and Naruto suppressed their anger.

"This is getting bad." the genius girl whispered.

"Indeed, he's acting like he's trying to get us to join a new religion." the swords woman commented.

"That's exactly what he's doing." Saya responded.

"He's a leech, sucking on the desperation the students are facing, and giving them false hope." Kyoko stated.

The Bokken wielding girl nodded at the red heads statement, watching as the faces of the other students grew hopeful and they were twisted into a sick sort of attachment to the man by his charismatic words.

"With the roads like this, I think it would be a good idea to leave the bus behind. If we cross the Onbetsu bridge though, we'd be heading in the opposite direction of Komuro-kun and Rei-san."

"Don't worry about Takashi, he'll be fine." Naruto stated as he joined the small gathering, Kohta right beside him.

"For now, I say we get out of here, I don't think I can deal with him any longer." he finished pointing behind him.

"What about your family though Saeko-chan?"

The girl in question raised an eyebrow at the suffix, but smiled none the less.

"My father is away in a Martial Arts Tournament, and he's the only family I have, so I'm not too worried."

The blonde nodded and turned to Kyoko, flinching internally at the cold gaze she leveled him with.

"_Shit, I guess she's still sore about what happened back in the School._" he thought.

"Hayashi-sensei, what about your family?"

Kyoko fixed her glasses, and after shutting her internal voice up, responded with a cool expression.

"My mother is dead, and my father is in retirement over seas. I have no thoughts of going back to my home, the risks are too high, so I'm staying with you guys."

"_And waiting for my chance to bring you down to your knees, and make you feel my pain._" she thought to herself, her eyes gaining a sharp edge, and a tint of...lust.

The blonde sweat dropped to himself as the older teacher seemed to immerse herself in her own world, her stare making him feel uncomfortable.

Coughing into his hand, he turned to the Kohta, although the shorter teen already expected the question.

"My mom is a fashion designer, so she's in Paris right now, as for my dad, he's in Holland on a business trip." the gun lover explained.

Naruto turned to the final person and grinned.

"What about you Shizuka-chan?" he asked.

The four others raised an eyebrow at the suffix, although each for different reasons. They could tell the two blondes had a past, and even Saya who lived with the blonde haired teen didn't know much about it.

"I don't have any family, and my relatives live far away, so I'm coming along as well, besides, I don't really like Shido-sensei."

That brought a smirk on everyone's faces.

"Wait, what about Takagi-san, and you Naruto-san?" Saeko asked.

The two teens blushed, and opened their mouths to answer, but were interrupted by the approaching Shido.

"What's wrong everybody, we're supposed to be working together."

Saya turned to him and gave the snake like man a victorious smirk.

"Sorry Shido-sensei, but we have our own goals, this isn't a School trip so we don't have any obligation to stay with you." the pinkette stated.

From behind her, the others gave their own variation of satisfaction, while Shido just smirked calmly, reaching up to fix his glasses as he leveled the group with a calm glare.

"I can see you've already decided, so please, be my guest and do as you please Takagi-san, Japan is a free Country after all."

The smirk widened and as he leveled the blonde nurse with a lustful stare, his mouth slowly opening as he licked his lips.

"However, Marikawa-sensei, should stay, we can't afford to lose our nurse."

In a flash, two things happened, the blonde was on Shido, grabbing his arm and twisting it until a sickening crack was heard and he fell to the ground screaming in pain, while his cheek bled from the cut that one of Kohtas nails grazed.

"H-Hirano-kun! U-Uzumaki-kun!"

The rest of the group was in shock at the duos actions. Anything else the man was going to say was cut off by a cold glare from now slitted blue eyes, as the blonde felt hot rage and the feeling of his pent up Chakra raging in his body to be released.

"I didn't intend to miss you.." Kohta whispered "But Naruto-san saved your life."

The blonde turned his eyes to the make shift gun holding teen, his hands shaking in barely suppressed rage as he glared at the downed teacher, his jaws clenching as cold sweat fell from his brow.

"H-How could you?..How could you be so cold to your students!" he suddenly roared, taking a step forward.

Saya watched on with wide eyes at the twos actions, never believing that the usually calm Kohta would snap in such a manner.

"_I guess this just goes to show you how much of a toll this is taking on everyone._" she thought.

Her eyes traveled to the taller blonde, and felt a sharp intake of breath at his eyes, feeling her skin grow cold at the sight as they were replaced with crimson red for a second.

"_Just like __that__ night._"

Saeko felt a cold chill run down her spine at the actions of the two, and the death like feeling that flew off of the blonde teen, her innermost demons responding to the blood lust, while Kyoko was frozen in her place, her eyes wide as the slitted eyes stared everyone down.

"_T-Thats not human! W-What the hell is he!_" she suddenly felt her mouth dry up "_Is he really some type of monster?_"

Shizuka however grew sad at the blood lust in the blondes eyes, remembering very well the first time she had witnessed those same eyes, only they were tainted a blood red.

Everyone was snapped out of their own thoughts when the chubby teen spoke again.

"You would stand by and let the other students pick on me, and beat me up! You would even encourage it! Don't even try to tell me I'm wrong, or that I deserved it!" he snarled at the man "I've always held it in, hid it away in a vain attempt to be normal, but not now!..Now normality is a dead concept! So I'll kill you..." he whispered the last part.

Shido felt his eyes widen in fear, as he turned his eyes back to the blonde over him, regretting it as he did, because the blondes blue eyes were bleeding red.

Crouching down, the teen put his mouth next to the injured mans ear and whispered.

"You held me back, my best friend is dead because of you, and now you're seriously trying something on Shizuka-chan..pray to Kami that I'm letting you live, I don't kill in cold blood."

He then stood and turned from the now frozen Shido, his eyes back to their normal blue color.

"Saeko-chan, you take everyone else and go, Kohta guard the rear with me."

The brown haired teen nodded and lowered the nail gun, giving Shido one last glare before turning and stepping out of the bus.

Once he was outside, Saeko smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You are a true man, you and Uzumaki-kun."

The chubby teen blushed crimson and gave a sheepish smile.

From within the bus, the blonde turned and walked past the still frozen Shido, holding his broken arm in pain, past the shocked teens, and straight up to Yuuki.

"You're welcome to come with us." he whispered.

The short haired girl bit her lip, and looked around into the faces of the other students, feeling her heart about to burst from her chest, then back up to give the blonde an answer, only for her mind to freeze up once she stared into those brilliant blue eyes.

"You want to live..I'll protect you, I promise, and I never go back on my word." the blonde spoke.

Extending his hand, he smiled as the girl nodded slowly, and took the hand as he helped her up. Turning around, he motioned for her to go out the door, something she did hesitantly, flinching as the other glared at her.

"Miku-san? Are you sure this is what you want?" Shido asked as he shakily stood.

Yellow eyes stared into a darker snake like yellow.

Without a second glance, she ran out of the bus and to the surprised group of teens.

"W-What? Miku-san?" Kohta stated.

Yuuki gave him a small smile as she caught her breath, the adrenalin leaving her body.

"I want to come with you guys, I don't trust Shido, Naruto offered me the choice." she explained.

Saya narrowed her eyes, she had never liked the orange haired teen before her, she rubbed off the wrong way on her, and couldn't be trusted, but if the blonde said she could come then there was no fighting it, Naruto was stubborn and arguing would only waste time.

"Fine." the girl genius stated as she turned to the others "We need a plan. For the time being we should see if Onbetsu bridge is even cross able."

Kohta shook his head slowly.

"It's probably blocked off, this area doesn't get much traffic."

The sound of the door shutting alerted the group to the blonde as he walked away from the bus, running a hand through his blonde hair as he sighed.

"So what's the plan?"

"We're going to see if the bridge is safe." Kohta stated.

Naruto gave a nod, and then grinned as he moved ahead of the group, waving his hand in a come on gesture.

"Let's go then, standing around here won't change anything!"

The group moved out, making their way through the narrow streets, after around ten minutes of walking, a sudden cry alerted them to two familiar faces.

"Naruto!"

Takashi cried as he ran towards his friend, the blonde doing the same as they fist bumped, while Rei jumped into Shizukas arms and hugged her tightly.

"Sensei!" she cried.

"Goodness Miyamoto-san!" the older woman responded with a smile of her own.

Saeko walked towards the two grinning teens and smiled at the darker haired one.

"Komuro-kun, it's good to see you safe." she stated with a small smile.

"You too Busujima-senpai!"

"What about me?" Saya asked as she tapped her foot.

"You too Takagi-san! You too Hirano, and Kyoko." he responded with a nervous smile.

His eyes drifted to the newest member of the group, as did Rei, the girl smiling nervously under the duos gaze.

Rei frowned at the sight of Yuuki, she, just like Saya disliked the girl, hearing many things about, and she even tried to take Igou from her once, needless to say she didn't take well to that.

"What's she doing here?" Rei questioned.

"Yuuki wanted to come with us. She's not like the others Shido has managed to manipulate, and I won't leave someone to rot with that sick bastard." the blonde responded.

Rei clicked her tongue, but said nothing.

"Hi. I'm Takashi Komuro." the teen stated, extending a hand.

The girl took it, and introduced herself.

"Yuuki Miku."

One by one, the others introduced themselves, and once the introductions were over with, they got to more pressing matters.

"So what know?" Takashi asked.

"We've been unable to find a way to cross the river." Saeko stated.

"Neither have we." Rei added.

"What about upstream?" the pink haired girl asked.

Takashi shook his head a no at the idea.

"Theirs construction going on, so there's no way around there, and I don't think it would be any more shallower upstream. We've gotten a lot of rain, so no luck there." he explained.

"I think it would be a good idea if we all rest, we only have one hour till dusk, and we won't be able to see where we're going." Shizuka added.

The group nodded at that, all in agreement.

"But where can we stay at till morning?" Kyoko asked.

"I know of a place, we can walk there."

"Is it your boyfriends place?" Saya asked with a sly smirk.

"No!" Shizuka exclaimed, flustered at the thought "It's actually my girlfriends place, she's always busy with work, so I have a spare key to clean it up and stuff, she even has a car we can use, it looks like a tank with four doors!" the older blonde finished.

Saya sighed at the thought of relaxation, most of the girls doing the same, and stretched, making her chest bounce around, putting on a show for most of the men.

"I'm so worn out after a day and a half of travel, I just want a nice warm place with working electricity so I can shower."

Naruto grinned and slammed his fist into his open palm.

"Yosh, let's do it! Lead the way Shizuka-chan!"

The blonde nodded, and with that the group was off. After a couple om minutes of walking, they found themselves in front of a rather large apartment with a tall gate, parked in the drive way was a large Humvee car.

"Whoa, what exactly does your friend do again?" Kyoko asked her fellow co-worker.

The car really did look like a tank.

"Those things won't be able to get past the fence, so we should be able to sleep soundly." Rei stated with a happy smile.

All eyes widened however when the familiar sound of groaning echoed from inside the fence.

Naruto flicked his wrist, and his two Kunai were in his hand in a flash, the blonde then jumped relatively high, careful not to use any Chakra, and pushing himself on the ledge, looking down on the scattered undead in the small enclosed area.

"There's around a dozen of them." he explained as the others watched on.

Takashi, Kohta and Saeko moved forward, the dark haired teen gripping the small pipe in his hands tightly, while Saeko raised her Bokken in preparation.

"Does anyone have anything I can use?" Kohta asked, his nail gun finally out of ammo, as he had fired the last shot at Shido earlier.

Takashi reached into his pocket and pulled out a small standard officer gun.

"Here, I found this on the way here."

Tossing the weapon to the now drooling teen, he turned back to the gate, watching as Rei gripped the gate entrance, ready to fling it open.

"Wait, Kohta, don't use the gun right now! It might attract more of the monsters." Saya whispered.

Kohta cried anime tears at not being able to use the weapon, but nodded none the less.

Naruto tensed, before jumping down to the ground, charging at the unsuspecting undead.

"Now!" Takashi ordered.

With a nod, Rei opened the gate, as the Takashi and Saeko rushed in, watching as Naruto stabbed his Kunai into one of the infected, the body hitting the ground dead once again.

Giving cry, the dark haired teen smashed the bat into another of them, the skull caving in under the force of the blow, and blood oozing out from the wound, while Saeko skillfully weaved her way through the infected, killing them all with a single swing of her Bokken. Rei rushed in as well, making short work of one of the undead with her make shift spear.

In a matter of minutes, they group had killed the small hoard, and removed them from the apartments premisses. After cleaning his hands of the blood, Naruto turned to the group and smiled, ushering them in as he closed the gate and locked it form the inside.

Once everything was secure, he gave out a sigh letting his head fall on the railings of the gate as he gazed out into the now dark street.

"_I need to talk to Kyubi soon, I need more power, and I'm sure he knows of a way._"

Giving a glance at the night sky, he took in the bright moon, and the starts, before turning around and entering the house himself.

* * *

_We finally got a break, something we all needed. I would enjoy this, because we wouldn't be getting many more, and the worst had yet to come, but I was willing to do whatever to get stronger, and keep my friends safe. Thing's were only going to get worse, and I needed to be ready for anything._

* * *

In a dark alley, a single corpse fell onto the ground, giving a loud groan as blood seeped from it's eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.

It's body began to shake and quiver, as something began to move under his skin, visible from the outside.

Arching it's head back, the infected gave a loud roar as it's shadow began to morph, it's spine exploding out of it's back, as blood pooled around it.

The worse, was yet to come.

In other parts of the city, no, the world, the same thing was slowly beginning, and the true terrors were slowly forming.

* * *

**That's right! It's starting to heat up! Sasuke is alive, but before you get all butt hurt, no he is no an asshole, just read to find out how he survived and such, and why his personally has changed, and why he's not consumed by vengeance anymore, he will play a major part in the story as well, so I need him, if you're going to stop ready because of it, then well, that's all you. Yuuki is with the group now, but are her motives genuine or not, and it seems like something is going on with the infected. Once again, thank you for all the feedback and reviews, I hope you guys liked it, review please! **


	8. Things get Complicated

**The Will to Live**

**A/N Here's the newest chapter. Please excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes.**

**Also, I now have a Beta, D4L7, he will be taking over the spell check and such next chapter. Special thanks to him for that!**

* * *

Chapter VIII

"Things get Complicated"

* * *

Naruto sighed happily as he rested on the soft warm bed, his body thanking him over and over for finally giving it a break after almost two days of movement and continuous over use of his already damaged Chakra network.

His eyes roamed around the room, taking in the rather simple space, there was a flat screen television, with speakers next to it over a table, a small carpet in front of the desk that held it up with an iron locker right next to it, and a slide door leading to a balcony, along with another door that lead to the bathroom, which the girls we're currently occupying.

Beside him, Takashi and Kohta enjoyed the small comforts as well, a welcome change from the horrid scenes they had been forced to witness lately.

"So." the shortest of the three began "Anyone want to see if they need any protection?"

Takashi sighed, but blushed none the less at the gun crazed teens perverted idea.

"No thanks, I'd rather not die yet."

Kohta shrugged, and turned to the blonde, the same question visible in his eyes.

Naruto sighed, and smiled.

"I'd love too, but one of them can kick both of our asses, I don't feel like dealing with them all."

He'd learned enough lessons on female rage, and the righteous pervert senses that women seemed to have from his two perverted teachers back in the Elemental World, as he had dubbed his past home.

Kohta gave a loud groan, and fell back on his head, making the bed bounce a little.

"Ah, you guys are no fun!" shutting his eyes, he allowed a small moment of peace, enjoying the company of the two teens beside him.

Takashi and Naruto had always been on his good side, hell, when he used to get picked on, Naruto would actually help him out, inviting him on his 'adventures' as he would call it, along with Morita and Takashi. These trips would usually involve skipping school, doing something incredibly stupid, somehow getting caught by the local police, and then running for your life.

The brown haired teen gave a small chuckle, catching the attention of the other two.

"What's so funny Kohta?" Takashi questioned.

The shorter teen shook his head, and smiled fondly at the memories, it felt like they were at war now, and he was an old veteran thinking back on the peace he used to enjoy.

"Nothing, just thinking back on the times I used to tag along with you guys."

Naruto blinked.

"You used to tag along with us?" he asked.

The two other males sweat dropped at his forgetful nature.

"Naruto, you invited him to go with us." Takashi deadpanned.

The blonde teen continued to blink, before shrugging and stood from his previous position.

"Don't remember, but then again, I don't remember much. Anyway, you think there's any Ramen stashed around here?"

At the word Ramen, Takashi froze, and just before Kohta could open his mouth, he placed his hand over it and gave him a silent death glare, before turning to the blue eyed blonde.

"N-Nope, I don't think there's any Ramen."

From underneath him, Kohta began to struggle, his mumblings growing louder, while Takashi began to sweat, pushing his hand down more preventing him from talking.

"Hmm, are you sure? I could have sworn I smelled something." he mused.

Takashi nodded swiftly.

"Oh well." Naruto shrugged "I'm going to go down stairs and check on the clothes."

The group had decided that walking around in blood stained attire was not something they all wanted to do, so they decided to take turns washing their clothing, the girls going first obviously, while the three men checked around the house for anything useful.

Besides some medical supplies, and other womanly things, the hadn't had any luck so far.

"By the way guys, you should check out that locker." he motioned to the metal object "If there's such a big lock on it, there's got to be something handy in there."

Takashi just grinned nervously and swiftly bobbed his head.

"Yup! Don't sweat it, you go do that, we got this!"

Giving the two a grin, Naruto stepped downstairs heading for the laundry room.

Finally letting go of Kohta, and ignoring the shorter teens gasp of air, he let out a sigh of relief.

"What the hell was that for?"

Takashi turned to him, a deadly serious look in his eyes, along with a fearful edge.

"Never. I mean never, tell Naruto there's Ramen anywhere near him, he will destroy everything in his path to find it. Trust me, I've seen him rip a refrigerator door off for the stuff."

Kohta gulped, and nodded, making a mental note to never step in between the blonde and the salty food. Turning his eyes to the locker, Takashi stood up from the bed, and motioned for the other male to do the same.

"Come on, let's see what's in here." Kohta nodded and moved to follow.

"Takashi, how long have you known Naruto?" he asked out of the blue.

"About two years, why?" he responded, all the while trying to open the single cabinet on the bottom.

"Have you ever noticed anything...strange about him? I mean, with all the rumors and stuff."

Takashi ceased what he was doing, and sighed, tilting his head to face the now nervous looking Kohta.

He wasn't going to deny it, Naruto was a strange one, he had himself seen him do things that most normal people couldn't, at first he played it off as a trick of his mind, but after it happened a couple more times, he realized the blonde was far from normal. At first he was mad, that his closest friend would keep secrets, but after he finally confronted him, he realized that sometimes, it was better to not know.

* * *

_Takashi glared at his blonde haired friend, his rage and worry fueling him, along with the small feeling of betrayal. He had entrusted everything, and I mean everything to the blonde before him, and after what he had just witnessed, he wanted answers, and he was damn sure going to get them._

_"Well? Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on? Why I have to meet you at three in the morning, and you're covered in blood, and why there's a fucking bullet hole in your shoulder!"_

_He ignored the fact that the blonde was still even conscious, let alone functional after a wound like that._

_"Takashi, there's no time. I need you to take-"_

_"The hell there is! I have all the time in the fucking world for this!" he could feel his emotions pooling out of him, not only did Rei break her promise, but now his best friend was keeping secrets._

_He was through with the shit!_

_"You're going to tell me what 's going on! I'm done ignoring all the weird shit that you do, I need answers, because I'm starting to feel like I don't even know my own best friend!"_

_Something snapped in the blondes eyes, as they grew wide, and the pupil morphed into a slit, he could see the anger burning inside of him, and the dark haired teen couldn't help but suppress a shudder._

_"Listen to me! Now! You want answers! I'll fucking give them too you when I want too! They're my secrets, and I don't have to share them with anyone, regardless of the bonds I have with them! You think you're entitled to shit just because we're 'best friends'? You're not! A best friend would understand, and be willing to wait until his best friend is ready, you don't know shit about what's going on! I called you out here because I trust you! If you're here to prove me wrong then get out of my face, I'll take Saya home myself!"_

_At that moment, Takashi realized just how out of line he really was. The hurt and pain reflecting in those now crimson eyes was something he would never understand, he knew it, because they reflected a hell like no other, the solitary hell of loneliness._

_Gritting his teeth, he turned away from the blonde, never noticing his crimson eyes grow dull and reflecting a sudden acceptance, like he knew this would happen._

_"Whatever.." the blonde whispered, and turned, making his way to the unconscious pink haired teen._

_"I'll take her home.." Takashi spoke suddenly._

_Naruto stopped, and then smiled softly._

_"What do I tell her parents?"_

_The blonde turned to face him, crimson eyes now much brighter._

_"They already know, just please take her home."_

_The darker haired teen nodded softly, and moved to where the young girl lay , kneeling beside her unmoving body, and then picking her up bridal style._

_Turning to face the blonde, he gave him a worried glance, a small frown on his facial features as he moved from his bruised face to the bullet wound._

_At the moment, he didn't care much about his strange eyes, or how any of this started, he just got a glance into the real Naruto Uzumaki, he wasn't a bright ball of sunshine, he wasn't some beacon light, or any of the things most people saw him as, he was just a teenager, who cared about his friends, and felt just as alone in the world as everyone else, maybe even more so._

_"What about you?"_

_The sounds of men screaming, and multiple cars pulling up could be heard._

_"Don't worry about me, I've already got everything under control. Just get her out of here."_

_Takashi nodded hesitantly, and rushed out as fast as he could, careful not to disturb the girl in his arms as he made his way to his mothers car, which he shouldn't even have._

_Glancing back, he was greeted with the sight of the blonde grinning brightly, a pair of reassuring blue eyes glancing back into his own darker brown ones._

_Finally making it to the car, he gently placed Saya in the back seat, then stepped into the car himself, and revved the engine up, giving the back of the dark park one last glance._

_Gritting his teeth, he drove off into the night, if he however would have looked back one more time, he would have been shocked to see a pair of purple ringed eyes watching him go._

* * *

"Kohta, Naruto is the strangest person you'll ever meet, so you might as well get used to it." he responded, as he finally opened the smaller compartment.

From inside, stacks of ammunition, three different kinds in fact, the third being a kind of cross bow arrows could be seen, making Kohta sequel in a fan boy manner as he picked a box up and opened it, sharp bullets falling into his hand, making him shiver in delight.

Takashi sweat dropped at his friends strange actions, why did everyone seem to have a strange obsession, whether it was Naruto and his Ramen, Kohta and his guns, or Morita and his porn.

"_That reminds me, I need to ask Naruto what we're going to do about Morita._" the teen mused.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Kohta stood next to him, a crow bar suddenly in his hands.

"Come on, help me out here, if there's ammo, there's got to be guns!" he cried excitedly.

Takashi nodded. If they found any weapons, their changes of survival would shoot up, and Kami knows they need it.

* * *

From inside the bathroom, the group of women enjoyed the warm water and the relaxing atmosphere, all clothing removed leaving their natural bodies out for anyone to see.

The bathroom was large, with a washing area, and a large bathtub capable of fitting two people, which Rei and Shizuka currently occupied. Saya and Saeko sat down next to them on small comfortable chairs, while Kyoko and Yuuki stood in the shower heads, bodies pressed tightly together as they shared the small area.

"This feels amazing." Rei whispered as she let the warm water sooth her sore body.

"Yes, I agree." Shizuka responded, jumping slightly as she did, making her breasts jump and actually splash water.

"Shizuka-sensei, those are really big!"

The blonde haired nurse nodded.

"You can say that again."

Rei deadpanned at the older woman.

"You're full of yourself.." she mumbled "But I know what will fix you!"

In a flash she jumped on top of the older woman, grabbing her breasts and squeezing them tightly, electing a loud moan from her.

"R-Rei-san! P-Please they're very sensitive."

The others watched on as the two women attacked each others bodies, moaning and groaning as they did with either amusement, or embarrassment, the latter being Sayas case as she blushed red like a tomato.

"This all looks like some perverted manga." she whispered under hear breath.

Saeko however heard her, a small mischievous smile making its way on her face as she reached over to one of the shower heads, and sprayed the cold water on the pinketts exposed back. The girl in return gave a loud erotic moan, making most of the women stop and glance at her.

"My, Takagi-san, I didn't know you were capable of such lewd noises."

Saya growled, and quickly acted, dumping a hole bowl of water on the taller girls back, but instead of the response she was looking for, she only shuddered slightly, before giving the pinktte a victorious smirk.

"Damn." she growled.

"Ladies, please, try to calm yourselves, this is not leas-Ahh."

Kyoko moaned half way through her speech as Yuuki moved her body, unknowingly rubbing her breasts against the much larger pair of the red headed woman's.

"S-Sorry Hayashi-sensei! I was just trying to get the soap!" Yuuki apologized.

Kyoko blushed slightly, but nodded, choosing to remove herself from the spot she was in and exposing her breasts, which were the second largest in the group, to everyone present.

"You may wash yourself, I've done what I needed." she stated, to which the younger girl gave a nod.

Rei narrowed her eyes at the girl, and leaned over the tub to whisper into Sayas ear.

"So what's her story?" she asked.

Saya gave a shrug, her breasts bouncing in the process, before responding.

"I don't know, but she's up to something, she's acting too innocent for my tastes."

Rei nodded in agreement, tearing her eyes away from the voluptuous body of the short haired girl.

Damn that blonde haired idiot, out of all the people he chooses to help, it's always the worse choices, and the people you can't trust. Rei sighed to herself and tilted her head back, shutting her eyes as she let her thoughts drift, from Igou to Takashi, to even the ever mysterious Naruto.

She could have sworn she heard her father talk about the teen once before, something about a shooting, after that she chose not to associate with the blonde, believing him to be a delinquent, she knew it was wrong, but a lot of the things she'd done in the last year or so were too.

"Shizuka-san." Kyoko spoke up "May I ask a question?"

Shizuka blinked, and nodded, giving her fellow college a smile.

"Sure." she chirped happily.

Kyoko nodded, and closed here eyes, seemingly thinking of how to word the question.

"How do you know Uzumaki so well?"

That got the rest of the groups attention, it was rare for a student and a teacher to have such a close relationship, since most kept to it to a strictly professional level, but the two blondes seemed strangely close, as if they'd known each other for a life time.

"Hmm, well, he frequently makes trips to the hospital. Naruto-kun is quite the trouble maker."

Saya scoffed at that, they had no idea how much trouble the blonde was.

"He would also volunteer, and one of the head doctors would frequently pair us up, so we spent much time together after school." she replied.

Kyoko narrowed her eyes, it made sense, but something told her that there was way more too it, something that put her off slightly.

"_Uzumaki.._" she growled in her head.

Before she could go on, Rei spoke up as well, curious about the blonde.

"Shizuka-sensei, since you said he visited the hospital a lot, could you maybe elaborate on something, a year or so back, I heard my dad talking about a 'shooting' and I'm sure he mentioned Narutos name in it."

No one missed how both Shizuka and Saya flinched at that, Rei beginning to regret even asking about it, and it definitely set off alarms in all of the girls heads, epically Kyoko.

"_A shooting! So the blonde really is a delinquent, I bet he killed someone in cold blood._" she suddenly winced slightly "_Or he could have saved someones life. I can't just assume._"

Growling to herself, she rubbed her temples in an attempt to ease the incoming headache.

"Hayashi-sensei, are you okay?" Yuuki whispered, noticing the red heads pained expression.

"Yes, I'm fine." she turned back to Shizuka "Could you tell us more?"

Shizuka shook her head.

"No..it's not my place to talk about it, if you want answers you'll have to ask Naruto-kun himself."

Kyoko nodded her head, while inwardly she had a minor argument with herself.

Saya however, seemed to take on a forlorn gaze, her mind traveling back to _that_ night once more. She was unconscious for the majority of the night, after the blonde had rescued her, but she saw his condition in the morning, and had even heard of the damage caused over the morning news, they said it looked as if a monster ripped through the main park, and the Tokonosu White Dragons main base.

Whatever the blonde had done, it was big, all for her.

That night she saw them again, those rippled eyes, she _knew_ it wasn't an illusion.

"Takagi-san, are you alright?" Saeko asked.

The pink haired girl snapped out of her thoughts and nodded softly, the atmosphere had suddenly become heavier, and they all knew it was time to get out.

* * *

Naruto sighed for what felt like the dozenth time, his eyes reflecting the night sky as he laid over the roof, relaxing in the calm night, leaving his shirt and coat in the laundry room.

"Thing's are getting progressively worse." he mused aloud.

Lifting his body up, he placed his arms over his knees and let his head fall, he needed to talk to Kyubi, and it was now or never. Inhaling deeply, he crossed his legs, and entered a meditative position, what he usually did to enter his mind scape, something Kyubi taught him when they first started his Tenkai training.

Feeling the familiar pull, he let himself be taken away, while he remained perfectly still from the outside. Snapping his eyes open, he found himself standing before the familiar cage in the sewer like terrain that was his mind.

"Kyubi!" he cried.

There was no response.

He was about to call again, when the familiar pressure exploded around him, almost bringing him to his knees once more, as a pair of crimson eyes slowly opened from behind the darkness of the cage.

"**Brat.**" the fox growled, not at all happy at being woken up "**This had better be important.**"

Naruto gulped, and stepped closer to the cage, before plopping himself down a few inches away from the bars, his eyes morphing into the Rinnegan.

"It is. I need to be able to access more of my Chakra, using any at all is enough to make me drop."

The fox glanced at his container, and scoffed.

"**Like I told you before, the Rift energy is too potent, you're going to have to wait a long while until you can access any of it.**"

"That's not enough!" the blonde growled, his anger starting to take over "I know you have some other way! Their has to be!" he responded.

He was willing to wait patiently when everything was normal, but now, he had no choice but to use his power if he wanted to keep everyone alive.

"**Watch your tone boy!**" the beast roared "**Is this because of those pathetic humans? You wish to protect them! Ha! Don't make me laugh, my only job is too keep us alive, not them.**"

Naruto growled, and tightened his hands into a fist, the damn fox could be such a pain sometimes.

"It's either you tell me some form of way, or I rip my body to shreds from the inside trying to save them." he responded fiercely.

Kyubi glared down at the whiskered teen, before suddenly chuckling. He had no choice in the matter, the blonde would truly end up killing himself for those other flesh bags, and he planned on doing this sooner or later anyways.

"_**Stubborn, just like your mother.**_" it mused.

"Well?" Naruto questioned.

"**Very well, there is a way, but you can't do it here, as it will most likely take you out for two to three days.**"

Naruto gulped, nothing could put him down for that long, but if the fox was saying that it could, then it was going to hurt.

"What is it?"

Kyubi chuckled, and placed a large paw before it's head, then resting it on the furry appendage.

"**We're going to over load you're Chakra network with my Chakra, it will essentially force out some of the excess Rift Energy, enough to allow you some of your strength back**."

Naruto grinned widely, and pumped his fist high into the air.

"Yatta! Then why not just force it all out!" he asked.

"**Because, too much and your Chakra network will not only be ripped apart from my Chakra, but your insides will be turned too mush from the overload of the Rift energy**."

The whiskered teen felt a bead of sweat fall from his face, that sounded painful, and he was not willing to experience the pain he felt inside of the Dimensional tear again.

"Sweet! I'll let you know when we can start, as soon as we find somewhere safe"

Kyubi nodded, and then waved a clawed paw, dismissing the blonde in front of him.

"Thanks Kyubi!" he cried as he felt the familiar push again, his body flying back as it was removed from his mind scape.

The fox chuckled and returned to its sleep.

"_**I wonder if he will ever figure out, that's not my real name.**_" it mused as a final thought.

Snapping his eyes open once more, the blonde stood from his sitting position and grinned, a new found excitement and hope filling his chest.

Stretching his arms and legs out, the blonde carefully made his way down the roof, which was walking down the side of the house, then hopping in through the open laundry room window, only to make direct eye contact with a half naked Yuuki, her breasts exposed as she had just finished slipping on her panties.

Naruto opened his mouth, but no sound came out, as he continued to stare, while Yuuki, equally as shocked at seeing the blonde just jump in through the open window stared at his shirtless body.

"_Oh my lord.._" Yuuki thought, unconsciously licking her lips at the sight of the blondes sculpted form.

Her eyes lingered on the dull fist shaped scar over his chest, and the much smaller scars over it, the blonde has definitely had his share of danger, and that made him even more attractive in her mind.

Naruto however was more preoccupied with fighting his hormones, and the slowly building tent in his pants.

"_Holy..hell, how big are those?_" he mused mentally "_Wait! No! Bad Naruto! Bad!_"

Shaking his head, he turned around quickly and shut his eyes, fighting the little voice in the back of his head that was telling him to be a man.

"I'm so sorr-"

He was cut off as a pair of slender hands wrapped around his torso, and soft, ample breasts pressed against his back.

"There's nothing to be sorry about, Na-ru-to-kun." Yuuki purred, a sly smirk on her face.

If Naruto was fighting off hormones before, he was waging a full on war now, as the soft hands brushed his stomach softly, feeling the tan flesh up, while the blonde blushed even brighter red, even at his age of seventeen, he was inexperienced in the art of women, as not many back home showed him any time, and when he got here, he was too preoccupied with keeping a low level, and fitting in.

Women were the last thing on his mind.

"My Naruto-kun, you really do stay in top shape." the girl whispered seductively.

"_What! What the hell happened to the shy and confused girl, she's totally different right now!_" the blonde screamed in his mind.

His eyes widened as her hands began to travel lower, slipping her fingers through his waist line, and just as she was about to go further, a cough interrupted the two.

Both heads turned too see an inpatient Kyoko standing at the door, tapping her foot as she gave the two, mostly the blonde, a disapproving glare.

In a flash, Yuuki was back to her more innocent persona, a blush spread across her face, while Naruto was still frozen rooted on the spot, the hot feeling not fully leaving him.

"Hayashi-sensei! I'm sorry! I was helping Naruto-san with something, but I didn't have time to put a shirt on so I just had him turn away. I'm sorry if it seemed like anything was going on!" Yuuki explained, giving a deep bow.

Naruto sweat dropped at the lame excuse.

"_That had to be the stupidest excuse, I have ever heard. I could have came up with better._"

His sweat drop increased when Kyoko nodded, fixing her glasses as she did so, then motioning for the girl to leave, to which she did with vigor, but not before turning around behind the red heads back and giving the blonde a small wink.

"_Talk about bi-polar._" he mused.

Shrugging, he made his way past the stern Kyoko, only for another slender hand to stop him, moving his eyes to face the much older woman, he found himself repressing another shiver at the way she seemed to look him up and down, as if analyzing him.

"_If he were older.._" she mused to herself "_Wait, who cares, the world I knew is over, rules don't mean anything. If I can seduce him, I may be able to catch him off guard._"

Naruto stared at the now zoned out teacher, her expressions changing every second, much like his did when he made a trip into his mind scape to talk to Kyubi.

Kyoko gazed at the blondes body, stopping at the bullet holes for a brief second, before trailing down.

"_Why not have a little fun before I have my revenge._"

A sly smirk fell upon her beautiful face, much like the one Yuuki had moments ago, but hers seemed more dangerous, and she suddenly pushed the blonde back into the room, then gently closed the door behind her.

"Naruto-san, may I call you that?" she asked.

The surprised blonde gave a small nod, wary of the strange teacher before him, now that she was in the full light, he could see that she only had on her bra and pair of dark shorts, probably from the closet of their not so present host.

"S-Sure." the teen mumbled, slightly hypnotized by the way the woman's hips seemed to sway.

Kyoko smirked, she knew she was attractive, and getting a hot blooded teenager riled up was child's play for someone as experienced as her.

Moving slowly, like a lioness about to pounce on her prey, Kyoko pushed the blonde over the washer, and straddled his waist, while simultaneously running her hands over his body.

_"What the hell is up with these women?_" the blonde screamed in his mind.

They suddenly get a break, all he want's to do is relax, and they suddenly try to get in his pants, if it were a normal day, this would have never happened. He didn't know whether to be thankful, or worried.

Sighing at his moral code, he made to remove the woman from his body, only for her to push back even harder, as the woman began to slowly trail kisses up his neck.

"H-Hayashi-s-sensei.." the blonde whispered, he'd be damned if he wasn't enjoying this.

The woman purred, and whispered in his ear hotly.

"Yes, Naruto-kun?"

From the close proximity, the blonde could smell the small traces of alcohol in her breath, and suddenly, any ecstasy he was feeling was gone.

Naruto gripped her hands gently, and moved her away, surprising the woman as she gave him a confused, and slightly angered glare.

"What? You're rejecting me?"

Just like every other man she had ever met, none of them wanted her for some strange reason, yet they all consistently sought her body, and yet here she was, offering it to a teenager of all things, and he has the gall to deny her.

"No. I'm saving you from making a decision you'll regret." he replied sternly.

Kyoko growled, and began to struggle in the blondes grip, only to lock eyes with a pair of hard blue ones, reflecting something beyond their time.

"Hayashi-san, please, you're drunk."

The woman clicked her tongue, her anger slowly taking over.

"What the fuck do you care?" she whispered with venom.

Naruto sighed, and let the woman go, watching as she took a step back, a familiar rage in her eyes.

"I care because-"

"No, you don't care! Just like you don't care about killing Teshima! Or anyone for that matter! You're nothing but a cold hearted killer! A-A monster!"

Something snapped in the blondes eyes at that, and she took notice, because the temperature in the room seemed to drop several levels at those last words.

Naruto shook with barley contained rage, bowing his head as the spiky blonde hair cast a shadow over his eyes. That word, that _stupid_ word had haunted him all of his life, and now even here, he was considered a monster for doing the right thing.

Kyoko didn't know what to say, she was completely frozen by the hard edge in the blondes eyes, betraying nothing of the emotions he felt inside.

"_S-Shit! W-What did I say?_" the woman thought "_I called him a monster! How could I! He saved my life!_"

Not knowing what to do, she slowly reached out, only for a hand to swiftly stop her own, and the blondes now cold voice to speak, sending shivers down her spine.

"Monster. Maybe, that's the title I seemed to be cursed with wherever I go. I'm sorry, for having to kill him, but I saved your life! You think you're alone now because of his death! You don't know the fucking meaning of the word alone.." he growled, flinging her arm away, and then making a bee line for the door.

Kyoko fell to her knees in shock as she heard the door being slammed behind her, what had she done?

He had saved her life, and she spit in his face, not only by treating him coldly, not only by blaming him, but trying to seduce him, trying to hurt him, for saving _her_.

"_No! No! It's not my fault! Right? He should have just let me die! I should have just died!_"

Her thoughts were spiraling, from restrained emotions and the alcohol in her system.

To live in a world without the person you loved was a curse, what reason was there to live!

Right?

But then why was she mad at him, why did he confuse her, why did it have to be him of all people. Naruto Uzumaki, from her first meeting with the blonde, to the present events, she always despised him, for smiling so much, for being so happy when others suffered every day of their lives.

Now, she realized just how much he was suffering himself, the pain in his eyes, it left her feeling hollow..cold.

"What have I done?" she mumbled aloud.

She shut her eyes, and for the first time in two days, she let her emotions flow.

* * *

Naruto sighed as he stepped out into the main hall, plopping himself down on the couch and tilting his head back. He didn't mean to be so angry with her, but that word struck a cord with him, one that played a bitter song.

His eyes drifted to the sleeping form of Saya on the other couch, her body barley hidden underneath the clothing, and a small frown on her face as she slept. The blonde couldn't help but smile at her, the girl was his first friend here, and one of the few people he trusted fully, he would do anything for her, she may be hard headed, arrogant, and even cold, but he knew it was all a mask.

The smile fell as quickly as it came however.

Did she even trusted him now though? Because of his slip up, she was fully aware that he lied to her for an extended period of time, he would have to come clean soon, with everyone, the blonde just hoped they would understand.

He didn't really want to be called a monster again, or worse. He felt connected to this small group, it was amazing what a few life or death situations could do for bonding.

From the stairway, Takashi appeared, a sleeping Shizuka over his shoulder. The two exchanged a glance, and a small smile grew over both of their faces, the two sharing the same thought.

"_Women._"

Standing up, he helped prepare a small bed for the busty nurse, before gently laying her down, covering her body with a thin blanket that did nothing to hide the curves underneath.

"So, what now?" Takashi whispered to his best friend.

Naruto shrugged, he didn't really want to face Kyoko right now, and Yuuki was just as strange.

"How about some grub?" the blonde suggested.

They hadn't really eaten anything since they got here and food sounded like a sure fire plan.

The two stood up as quietly as possible and made their way to the kitchen, only for their jaws to drop once more at the sight of Saeko clad in nothing but an apron and a thong, her long hair tied up into a high pony tail, standing over the oven preparing food, for them.

"_If this is heaven, let me be._" Naruto mused.

Takashi was having similar thoughts, as the purple haired woman turned and gave them a warm smile, the two retuning the smile with a bit more nervous one as their faces flushed.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"N-Nothing at all." Takashi responded weakly, trying to control his bloody nose, while Naruto beat his inner male back once again.

Saeko suddenly blinked, and pointed to her attire with a delicate finger, suddenly realizing that these two were indeed teenage males, and her clothing did little, if nothing, to hide her body from them.

"Oh! I'm sorry, this is all they had for me to wear! I'll only have it on until the laundry finishes up. It must be so shameful!"

"No!" Naruto cried out, giving her a thumbs up, while his teeth twinkled strangely "It's not shameful at all! You look good!"

Takashi nodded quickly next to him, pinching his nose shut to avoid the blood loss he was about to receive.

"Thank you Naruto-san." Saeko softly spoke "I must thank Takashi-san, Kohta-san, and yourself, you're all so cautious. You three give me a lot of confidence."

"Don't worry about it!" the blonde stated with a grin "Speaking of Kohta, where is he?" he asked.

"He's up stairs watching over things, we found some guns in the locker."

Naruto grinned brightly happy that they had some form of real protection now.

"Takashi! Listen to me!" Rei called from upstairs in a drunken stupor, making the dark haired teen sigh, and the blonde to place an apologetic arm on his shoulder.

"You should go see her, girls can be weak at times, and just need to let it out." Saeko spoke with a small smile.

Takashi turned to her and gave a small smile.

"Thank you senpai."

"Please, call me Saeko."

The brown eyed teen nodded, and then rushed up stairs to go console his child hood friend, mentally preparing himself for whatever she may say in her drunk stage, leaving the blonde and the violet haired Bokken wielder alone.

"Do you need any help?" he asked.

Saeko smiled, and shook her head a no, the responded.

"No, it's a woman's job to do this, and so I shall prepare food."

Naruto gave her a deadpan stare, and then grinned, making his way next to her, not noticing the small blush on her face at seeing his body, along with the few battle scars that Kyubi chose no tot perfectly heal, upon the blondes request.

"_He has seen his share of the battle field._" she mused to herself.

The blonde stopped right next to her, and grabbed a pan and some eggs, cracking them open and letting them drop on the steel, before turning to her, grin still in place.

"It's also the man's job to help the woman you know?"

Saeko looked slightly surprised, but nodded none the less, a small smile on her face. From the corners of her eyes, she watched the blonde work, slightly surprised at his seemingly random cooking skill, she had never expected the whiskered teen to know how to prepare food, as most men now a days chose to leave that to the women.

"How did you learn to cook Naruto-san?" she asked.

The blonde grew a for lorn look, as a small smile made its way onto his face.

"I learned when I was much younger, I'm an orphan, so I had to teach myself certain things to survive."

Saeko suddenly felt guilty for bringing it up, and opened her mouth to apologize, only for the blonde to cut her off.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine. I learned who my parent's were, and that they loved me, that's all that matters." he stated with a smile.

The woman seemed surprised, and then smiled warmly at the blonde, giving him a small nod.

From the stairs, they could hear Takashi shouting, and then it going completely silent, whatever he must have said silenced the girl with him. The silence vibrated all through out the house, leaving the two in a comfortable atmosphere as they prepared the food, it didn't last long however, as loud sounds could be heard coming from outside.

"What the hell was that?" the blonde whispered.

From the steps, Takashi and Rei gave each other a glance, and tried tuning into the sound.

"Is that barking?" Rei asked.

"Sounds more like gun shots to me." Takashi responded.

He turned his eyes down stairs to see Naruto and Saeko standing at the end of the steps, both having a hard look in their eyes, they all knew what the sounds would attract. The two males gave each other a quick glance, before they both rushed out onto the balcony, quickly approaching Kohta.

"It's bad." the gun crazed teen whispered, a hard look in his eyes.

From underneath them, on the streets, a large amount of them were tumbling around, slowly rising in numbers, one man could be seen at the bottom firing off round after round, the loud gun shots attracting even more of the infected, although it didn't seem like he really cared.

"Shit!" Naruto whispered, while Saeko grabbed the binoculars from the balcony ledge and took a closer look.

"Takashi-san, should we shoot?" Kohta asked, hefting the large weapon in his hands, which Naruto had just now noticed.

"_Holy shit! What kind of friend does Shizuka-han have!_"

Takashi turned to him and growled.

"What do you think! Of course we sho-"

He was interrupted by a deathly serious Saeko, a stern expression on her delicate face.

"Have you forgotten that those creatures react to sound Takashi-san?" she asked.

The boy molded his hands into a tight fist, an outward display of his frustration.

"Also, if survivors hear our gun shots, and see our lights, they'll come flocking here for safety, and no matter how much we give, we can't save that many people. They have to survive on their own, much like we are."

Takashi narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth as the beautiful woman spoke, he knew she was right..but still.

The female teen extended the binoculars and continued.

"If you don't believe me, then look for yourself. Get used to it, by now, the world has become a place where those noble causes alone won't be enough!"

Takashi took the binoculars, and turned away from the woman.

"I got the impression that you thought differently Busujima-senpai."

The girl stopped for a second and turned to him, an apologetic smile on her face.

"I'm just stating the facts, you don't have to like them." she finished, then stepped inside.

"So what you're saying is it would be a fools errand?" Naruto questioned, as he leaned on the wall.

Saeko stopped for a second, before nodding her head a yes. She was surprised when the blonde gave a low chuckle, and moved to the small counter that held his two Kunai knives, now clean and fresh from his washing them earlier on.

"Well then, I'd rather live my life a brave fool than an intelligent coward." he stated simply.

Saekos eye's widened at his words, and she quickly turned, watching him make his way downs stairs, Kunai at the ready, before the sound of a door shutting snapped her out of her stupefied stage, a small smile making its way over her face as she sighed softly.

"Men." she whispered.

From behind her, the sound of a bullet being fired made her realize that there was no turning back, she definitely chose the most interesting of people to travel with.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hope you guys liked it, tell me what you think. Anyways, next few chapters are going to be jam packed with all the action and guts you guys want. If any of you are still wondering about Kyoko, she has developed a sort of inner persona from the trauma, that has it out for Naruto, so it's like a split-personality disorder. Just clearing that up, did she really learn her lesson though, or will this mess her up even more? Who knows. Expect me. Anyways review!**


	9. Down the Rabbit Hole

**The Will to Live**

**A/N Sorry for the long wait guys, School and all. Hope you enjoy the newest Chapter. **

**I do not own Naruto or HOTD. Please excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes. **

* * *

**Chapter IX**

"**Down the Rabbit Hole"**

* * *

Naruto sighed as he and Takashi fought back a cluster of the infected corpses, all the while protecting a small child behind them, and the puppy she was currently hugging for dear life.

He had to admit, that puppy had some major balls, it actually tried biting some of the creatures, he wasn't even sure he had enough balls to actually bite them.

Yup, new level of respect for the pup.

"Naruto, snap out of it!"

The cry of his dark haired friend snapped the blonde out of his thoughts in time to snap the neck of the most current of the attacking creatures, the body dropping on he ground with a small thud close to the others.

"_Oh yeah, this is happening right now._" the whiskered teen mused.

Turning, he watched as the gates that held back the other flesh hungry corpses began to buckle under the sheer number of them.

Takashi seemed to be back with the young girl, the crowbar in his hands bloody and dripping with some substance he was sure belonged to a human brain, while the discarded bike he entered with lay far off from him. All in all, things were not looking good.

The area they were in was too small for him to do much without hurting Takashi or the girl, and even if he could, none of his attacks were the silent type anyways.

"_This is really starting to suck._"

"Pick on someone your own size!" Takashi roared as he slammed the crow bar into the side of one of the corpses faces, its skull being crushed from the blow causing blood and gore to spew out from the wound.

Naruto smirked, while ducking under a swipe from a gray arm, then slitting the throat of the undead while simultaneously stabbing the other Kunai into its right eye, then kicking it back with enough force to send it crashing into two others, the Kunai going with it.

At least he got some stress relief from this.

"Onii-chan! Behind you!" the small girl cried.

Takashi quickly turned to see an infected a few inches away from him, it's maw open wide revealing rotting teeth with small pieces of flesh in between them.

"Shit!" the brown haired teen cursed.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the small hand gun, and then quickly took aim, then pulled the trigger of the metallic weapon, wincing as the loud bang caused his ears to pop.

The bullet flew through the air, and then entered the skull of the approaching infected, ripping through skin and bone easily and making the animated corpses head snap back from the shock.

Naruto blinked as he watched his friend fire a gun for the first time in his life, he had to admit, it was a good shot. Turning his attention back to the few infected left, the blonde rushed towards them and cut them down easily one by one until their were none left.

Once the coast was clear, the blonde let himself relax slightly and turned, making his way to the two other live humans, an annoyed frown on his face.

"We need to get the hell out of here." he grumbled silently.

Takashi nodded in agreement, while his brown eyes darted to the small girl and dog next to him, idly noticing Naruto examining them as well, and the relived look that flashed over his blue eyes when he saw no bite marks on the small girls body.

He was just as relived, killing the adult and teenage ones was no problem, but he would hate to have to end the life of a small child.

The girl had light pink hair, stopping just under her neck with two large bangs falling down her face and a pink headband, and even brighter pink eyes, wearing a small red skirt with a tan long sleeved sweater over her upper body, although it was now stained with blood.

"Hey! Thanks! You really saved my life." Takashi commented with a small smile.

The little girl nodded, and returned the smile with a much weaker one, her eyes drifting to the taller blonde, or more importantly, the small whisker lines over his cheeks.

"Neko-chan!" she suddenly cried.

Two pairs of eyes blinked, before both eyes reflected a different emotion, brown reflected amusement, while blue reelected confusion and surprise.

"...Neko-chan." Naruto whispered, his mouth open and gaping.

Here was, a complete bad ass, cutting down some twisted animated corpses, saving people, all the while dealing with confusion women, and what did he get for it all?

Neko-chan.

In that instant, it felt like the tension that surrounded the gated lawn melted away as Takashi clutched his stomach as he struggled to contain his laughs, while Naruto stood paralyzed. A sudden tick mark formed over the blondes head, and he gave the small girl an overly sweet smile.

"It's Naruto. Na-ru-to. Not Neko-chan." the blonde growled, elbowing his friend as he repressed his laughter enough to speak.

"A-And I'm Takashi." the shorter of the two spoke between giggles.

"I'm Alice! Alice Maresato! Thank you for saving me Onii-chan! Neko-chan!" The now named Alice responded, a smile on her face, while Takashi exploded in laughter once more at the annoyed expression on his friends face.

"Listen brat. Here's the deal, one, they look nothing like cat whiskers, they're more fox like, second of all, I just saved your tiny little a-"

He was interrupted by Takashi cupping his mouth, and pulling him back, all the while giving Alice a sheepish grin.

"Hehe! Ignore him!" he cried as his friend struggled.

The pink haired child blinked, and then nodded, her eyes drifting from the strange duo to the body of a man laying not even four feet from her.

It did not go unnoticed to the two teens how her eyes suddenly grew sadder, and the tears that threatened to spill from the bright pink orbs.

"Onii-chans. My daddy.." she choked on her own words "H-He died."

Suddenly, the feeling was back, and the two were reminded of the situation they were in. Both eyes turned to the still and pale body of the older male laying on the soft green grass, a large blood stain over his stomach.

For Takashi, he couldn't help but to think of his own family, and how they were fairing, a sudden cold feeling rushing down his spine at having to come to terms with their death, if they were dead.

Naruto however stared at the corpse with a tinge of sadness, and a large amount of respect, feelings of his one and only meeting with his father two years ago rushing back. To have that all of your life, and lose it all so suddenly, and at such a young age, was truly tragic.

Moving towards a near by clothes line, he plucked a medium sized white blanket from the hanger, and then draped it over the corpse, then motioned for the Alice to come closer.

Takashi caught what he was doing and bent over, plucking a small flower from the grass and placing it in her much smaller hands.

"He died protecting the person he loved the most, I'm sure he was a wonderful dad." Takashi whispered.

Alice clutched the small flower closer to her chest, and gave a shaky nod, the tears now falling freely from her eyes. She blinked when a hand landed over her head, and a soft pair of blue eyes looked into her own teary one's.

"We've got you now, don't worry. We're going to get out of here." the blonde whispered, and suddenly, the small girl felt a lot safer.

The warmth those crystal pools reflected filled her small heart with a feeling of safety. If you asked why, a much older Alice would be able to tell why she felt secure under those ocean blue eyes, but for now, it would remain a mystery.

After a few more moments of silence, the blonde stood and turned his head towards the gate, watching the multiple gray corpse arms try to pry their way inside and have them for a snack.

"We need to move." he whispered.

Takashi nodded and turned to Alice, and the small pup that was now in her hands.

"You need to be really quiet, any sound attracts them."

Alice nodded, while the small pup yipped in agreement.

Giving them a smile, the brown haired teen turned to his blonde friend once more.

"How are we going to get out of here? They've got us completely surrounded." he whispered.

Naruto growled at the question, his grip on the Kunai in his hand tightening in frustration.

"Um, Onii-chans." Alice spoke, catching the two's attention "We could just go over them."

Naruto and Takashi blinked, and then shared a glance, then a grin as they both knuckle touched, before Takashi grabbed the small girls hands and the blonde picked up the small pup and placed him over his head, both making their way to the gate.

* * *

Shizuka and Rei stared at the pile of supplies they had gathered once Naruto and Takashi had left, consisting of packs of supplies and food, ammunition boxes and weapons and anything else they all thought would come in handy.

The sudden silence that had fallen outside making them slightly nervous, but their thoughts were more preoccupied with getting out safley.

"We sure have a lot of stuff, do you think we can fit it all?" Shizuka asked.

Rei gave a small sigh in response as she crossed her arms over her ample chest.

"Never mind that. How are we going to get it all in without them hearing us?"

"Do it like a thief in the night!" Saya responded as she placed a shirt over her bra, beside her Yuuki doing the same, her larger breasts bouncing around as she did so, making the pink haired girl blush.

Saeko smiled at the group of women, but then blinked at the missing presence of the oldest of them all.

"Where is Hayashi-sensei?"

"Here." the woman responded, entering the kitchen as she fixed a gray tank top over her body. Her eyes seemed slightly red and puffy, like she had been crying, but now wasn't the time to be asking questions.

"Very well, then shall we?" Saeko asked.

All of the women present nodded, and the group made their way to the Humvee parked outside, Shizuka hopping into the drivers seat, while the others examined the tank like vehicle. Finally reaching the trunk, Saya pulled out a small key and then opened it, revealing a large amount of space.

"This is perfect!" Rei stated excitedly.

From above the balcony Kohta watched this all happen with a keen eye, wary of any infected that would approach too close. The chubby teen gave a small sigh of relief at how things seemed to be going, the only problem now was Naruto, Takashi and the girl.

"_Once we get everything ready here, we'll rescue them and make our great escape._" he mused, watching as Saya gave him the signal that everything was packed and ready.

Waving back, he hefted his weapon and stood, ready to make his way down stairs.

"_We should be able to get through all of the monsters in front of the house with the Humvee, but the only problem is how Naruto and Takashi will get to the car._" turning to look at the swarm of infected out on the streets, he growled quietly "_More importantly, how will they even get out of there_."

He was about to turn and enter the house, when a sudden movement in the corners of his vision caught his attention, grabbing the binoculars, he placed them over his eyes, and couldn't help the grin that split his face.

"Of course! Good job guys!" he stated aloud.

* * *

"Don't look down." Takashi whispered as he hefted the young pink haired girl on his back, while at the same time balanced himself out over the top of the concrete wall, careful not to slip and fall into the sea of infected next to him.

From behind, Naruto walked calmly and casually, the small pup wagging its tail happily from atop of his head.

"Relax Takashi, if anything were to happen, I'd grab the brat and run."

The shorter teen sweat dropped and flicked his friend off from behind him, ignoring the small chuckle he received from the action.

"Are you scared Onii-chan?" Alice whispered.

"Nope. Not one bit." Takashi responded, swallowing a lump that was building up in his throat, while ignoring the need to turn around and choke his friend as he continued to giggle as silently as possible.

"Relax Takashi, we're almost ho-"

The blonde suddenly froze, a cold feeling rushing down his spine as his pupils dilated to extreme levels, from atop his head, the small pup had begun to growl quietly, apparently sensing whatever the blonde had felt as well.

Feeling his friend stop, Takashi tilted his head back and watched as the blondes round pupil morphed into a slit for a fraction of a second.

"Naruto! Are you alright!?" he whispered heatedly.

"Is Neko-chan scared?" Alice asked aloud.

Naruto snapped back into reality, and growled at the small child, raising his fist up threateningly.

"Call me that one more time you brat, and see what happens! And for the record, I'm not afraid of anything!" he responded hotly.

Alice stuck out her tongue teasingly, and turned back around, while Takashi gave him one last look, before focusing on the task at hand as well, leaving the blonde to his thoughts.

"_What the hell was that?_ _It felt...familiar?_" he mused to himself "_Whatever it was, the pup felt it too. We need to hurry up and get out of here, it was close by, I could feel it._"

He was suddenly brought out of his musing when he almost bumped into a frozen Takashi, a stupefied expression on the brown haired teens face, the blonde was just about to ask what his deal was, when Takashi spoke.

"Come again?" he asked.

"I-I have to pee.." Alice whispered.

Just like that, the whiskered teen had to bite his tongue to contain his laughter, while Alice buried her face into Takashis shoulder in an effort to hide her embarrassment.

"Y-You can't hold it?" the dark haired teen asked.

The small girl shook her head a no, and for a second, Takashi felt like falling to his knees and screaming why to the heavens, while his best friend fell to his doom in a fit of laughter.

"T-That's fine, you can do it now, Onii-chan will forgive you."

Then just like that, the warm liquid soaked into his black shirt, while he just sat there and took it. Naruto on the other hand, was almost about to bite his tongue clean in half, his eyes watery as he tried his hardest to contain the laughter that was about to explode, if there was any good thing to him dying right now, it was without a doubt this.

The sound of a roaring engine suddenly echoed through the streets, as the three humans and dog watched corpse after corpse go flying into the air, courtesy of the large tank like vehicle that was mowing them down like grass, inside of it, Shizuka did her best to count how many of the infected she saw, while from above Saeko gripped her Bokken tightly, a small smirk on her delicate face, while Kohta grinned wildly, half of his body concealed by the manhole the Humvee had, his gun aimed and ready to fire.

"Onii-chan, Neko-chan. Are those friends of yours?" Alice asked meekly as the Humvee continued to tear through the horde of infected.

"You betcha!" Naruto responded with a grin, even choosing to ignore the nickname.

"Very important friends." Takashi finished with a smile.

The two sped up the pace, as they quickly began to approach the end of the gate, as did the Humvee.

"Looks like we're going to have to jump it!" Naruto cried with an excited grin.

"What!?" Takashi hollered.

From the passenger window, Rei pocked her head out, and locked eyes with Takashi, a sudden feeling of happiness at seeing him overwhelming her body.

"Takashi!" she cried as Shizuka hit the breaks and turned the wheel sharply, so that they could make their escape as soon as the small group was safe.

"We still have to make it to the river, will you men be joining us?" Saeko questioned with a small smile.

"Naturally." Takashi cried.

"Move bitch!" Naruto screamed from behind him as he kicked his lower back with enough force to send the teen flying through the air screaming while Alice held on for dear life.

From inside of the vehicle, most everyone sweat dropped at the scene as the two landed unceremoniously on the roof of the Humvee, while Alice was fine, Takashi was not. Standing up quickly, he turned to his laughing friend and was about to scream some choice words when the small pup crashed into his face, making him fall once more.

"Go!" Naruto cried as he pumped a small amount of Chakra to his legs and prepared to jump as well.

Shizuka took the hint and floored it, the car taking off as the whiskered teen soared through the air.

"_Almost there!_" the teen thought, a wide grin over his face, fate however had other plans it seemed.

"Naruto watch out!" Sayas suddenly cried, her eyes wide in fear.

The others watched in horror as a fast moving white substance flew through the air and pierced the blondes shoulder, blue eyes widening in pain and shock as blood exploded from the wound.

"Naruto!/Naruto-kun!/Naruto-san!/Uzumaki-san!"

Was the collective cry as the blondes body fell to the ground in mid air, hitting the concrete roughly as the white whip like weapon was ripped away from him leaving a gaping hole in his shoulder.

"F-Fuck!.." the blonde whispered from his position on the ground.

The Humvee stopped in an instant as the group began to rush out, only for another horde of the infected to close in around them, slamming into the door and windows trying to make their way in, shaking the tank like vehicle.

"Shit! Naruto!" Takashi cried as he shot another bullet into a near by corpses, sending blood and brain matter all over, the teen turning back to see his friends shaky figure rise from the ground gripping his shoulder in pain.

"Naruto-kun!" Shizuka hollered, kicking the car in reverse as she forced her way through body after body, knocking them down one by one, piles of bodies forming from underneath the car, something the injured teen noticed.

"_Damn it! If she keeps doing that we'll all be stuck here._"

Taking a deep breath, he screamed at the top of his lungs and turned around, making his way in the opposite direction, the infected taking notice and following him, all with the intent of tearing the blonde apart.

"Naruto! What the hell are you doing!?" Takashi questioned, the others watching on in shock as the blonde grew farther and farther.

"Go! Keep moving, I'll find you and meet up soon!" he screamed in return.

Saya was about to protest, when a the Humvee suddenly shook violently, as a dent was created from the weight and force of whatever it was that landed on the roof. All eyes turned to the white whip like weapon that was now stained with Narutos blood, hanging from the side of the vehicle and visible from the window.

Rei was the first to voice her opinion of the whip.

"I-Is that a spine?" she asked shakily.

Indeed, the weapon was a large spine, although it seemed somehow disfigured, the edges being sharper, almost like blades, and the bone marrow denser.

Then just like that, it was gone, a dark silhouette flying through the night sky, making it's way directly towards the blonde, while a pair of crimson eyes shined brightly in the inky blankness.

"What the fuck?" Naruto whispered.

In a flash the larger creature was upon him, the others watching in shock as the creature slammed into him full force, sending them both tumbling through gates and houses alike, far from the view of the others.

"Naruto! Fuck! We need to go after him!" Takashi roared, fear in his eyes, at whatever it was they had just seen, and for his friends safety.

"Are you insane!? Did you see the size of that thing!" Yuuki suddenly spoke up, even more fear reflected in her expression.

"Naruto would go back for us!" he responded harshly.

"Takashi please! He told us to go on! If we go after him we'll be risking our own lives as well!" the red head teacher whispered, this was her chance, to finally be rid of the blonde, and the confusion he gave her...it didn't matter that it felt like someone was punching her in the gut repeatedly.

"Uhh, guys?" Kohta spoke up.

"Who the hell are you to tell me to leave my _best_ fucking friend to die?!" the dark haired teen growled.

"Komuro-kun please, you must calm down." Saeko whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Takashi.." Rei whispered, watching her long time friend and crush literally collapse emotionally.

"Guys." Kohta continued.

"Takashi! Enough, we need to go on, that knuckle head will be fine, he told us he would find us!"

Rage filled brown eyes locked with stern yellowish brown, and just as he was about to respond, Kohta screamed, firing off a round into the head of one of the infected.

"Guys! We have no more time, we need to go!" the chubby teen stated.

Saeko sighed and turned to give Shizuka a nod, watching as the nurse wiped her eyes and gave a reluctant nod, all thoughts on the injured blonde they just left behind.

"Naruto-kun, you better come back in one piece." the busty blonde whispered, fear clenching her heart.

She wasn't the only one however, for whatever it was that had attacked the blonde didn't even bother with them, it was after Naruto, and that was clearly evident.

* * *

"Fuck!" Naruto cursed as his body rolled along the ground, smoke and debris surrounding him as he crashed through the wall of a large abandoned car warehouse, he could feel the Kyubis Chakra already rushing towards his wound, trying to heal it as fast as it could.

Blue eyes darted to the gaping hole in the wall, locking with crimson blood red, as a crouched over shadow approached him slowly, the first thing visible was the sharp bone whip, next was a disfigured head, crimson eyes with dark rings surrounded them, and black vain like markings marking the face, and running down the whole exposed body.

It's gray skin was covered in blood, and it's hands were morphed to be shaped like claws, while it's legs looked more like that of an animals, over it's toes were sharp talons, the most disturbing thing was the large gaping whole that ran along it's back, where it's spine should be, which was currently being held in its hand as a weapon, then bone twisted around his waist.

The monster opened it's mouth revealing sharp and twisted teeth, and the gave out a loud shriek, the vein like markings pulsing as it did so, as the floor underneath it cracked from the sheer power. It was easily larger than a full grown man, and the blonde couldn't lie, it was an intimidating creature.

"Holy..shit." the teen whispered, gripping the final Kunai he had tightly in his hands, feeling the adrenaline rush through his body as he stared down the altered infected.

The creature bent over, it's upper body flexing, as it leveled itself down to the blondes height.

Naruto growled in response, tensing as well, and closed his eyes.

"Alright, you want a fight big guy?" snapping them open, the familiar slitted pupil stared back into crimson red "Then bring it on!" he roared.

The creature seemed to understand and charged at him with impressive speeds, the spine whip tearing through the concrete ground as it made a bee line towards the whiskered teen.

"_Why me?_" we're the blondes final thoughts as he rushed forward as well, his Kunai colliding with the spine whip, small sparks flying from the collision, as he grit his teeth in the stalemate.

Whatever this thing was, it was strong, and was after him for whatever reason, he just hoped the others go away in time.

"Alright ugly! You're about to get your ass handed too you! Uzumaki style!"

* * *

_It seemed like I could never get a break, but things were only just getting worse, and it seemed like we had stepped out of the fire, and into the oven. All I knew was that my life, had once again, gotten even more complicated, and there was more to come._

* * *

**Hey everyone, sorry or taking so long, things have been pretty hectic. Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter, I should be back on my normal update speed again. Feedback is always well liked, I don't eel very good about this chapter, but it was the best I can do. Hope you enjoyed it! **

**Next Chapter, Naruto Alone! **


	10. Naruto Alone

**The Will to Live**

**A/N Enjoy the new chapter! Please excuse any spelling and grammar mistakes. By the way, for those of you who don't understand yet, my time line goes a little different. So far, it hasn't been just a day or two since the outbreak. The group has been at it for about four and a half days now. Just to make that clear.**

* * *

**Chapter X**

"**Naruto Alone"**

* * *

Above the ground, in a U.S jet, shots could be heard even above the loud roaring of the powerful engine, as lights could be seen flashing from the tinted windows of the expensive sky flier, and just as the outside looked calm, the inside was complete turmoil.

"Shit! Aim for the head!" a man dressed in a black suit, holding a standard Desert Eagle shouted, shooting bullet after bullet at the approaching mass of infected, beside him, another man, this one holding an M-14 Rifle protected one of the injured flight attendants.

"God dammit! Who let them on!?" the man holding the M-14 shouted as he took aim and unloaded on two of the infected, one a older looking woman wearing a solid gray dress skirt combination.

"Fuck! The first ladies been bitten!" the same man cried at seeing the older woman.

While the main area of comfort and civilian leaser was over run, behind closed doors in a more secure area, the president of the Untied States and the General of the United States Military argued over a simple button in the Presidents hands, a button that could change the outcome of many lives, for better or for worse was to be seen.

"You must press the button Mr. President! This is a matter of national security! You and I have both been bitten, and we must eliminate all threats to our great Nation by destroying any Country with ICBM's! We must fulfill our duty! We mu-"

The General suddenly stopped, keeling over and vomiting up a large amount of blood over the desk, from beside him, two men approached to help, a worried expression on their faces as they glanced at their own bandaged wounds, and the one over the Presidents hand.

Thing's were not looking good all, and this seemed like the end.

"M-Mr. P-President.." the General whispered as his skin began to turn a dark gray, the President watching on in horror, although he hid it well.

His old and weary eyes drifted to the button in his hands, and just like that, he realized a choice must be made, he just hoped the people could forgive him...not just his own, but all over the world.

* * *

Naruto groaned as he collided with the brick wall, some cracks appearing behind him from the force of the blow. He had no time to even consider the pain, as the sharp end of the spine whip rushed towards him, the blonde was ready however, as he flipped backwards, landing on the wall in a crouch and using a small amount of Chakra to stick to it, watching the whip pierce the brick wall like a knife through hot butter.

"_What the hell is this thing made of!?_" he thought frantically.

As soon as he and whatever this monster was broke apart from the stalemate, the blonde had moved quickly, ducking low and stabbing his Kunai, which was now currently lodged in its leg, in the same spot it currently resided in.

To his surprise, the monster wasn't even fazed, instead, the wound healed right in front of his eyes, the Kunai becoming apart of its body.

So now, he realized he was facing a monster with a healing factor that was much like his, with an unbreakable bone whip made out of its freaking spine, that was currently after his head.

"Fuck me!" the blonde roared, busting out in a full sprint across the wall, the monster moving its large arm, the whip responding as it tore through the wall following the sprinting blonde.

Naruto noticed this and stifled another groan.

_ "Come on, think! Why does this seem familiar!?_" the teen mused, flexing his legs as he jumped from the wall and landed on the upper levels of the factory. Watching the creature swing its arm around, the powerful whip tearing everything around it apart.

"_It looks like it's still blind_." the blonde mused, and then dived and barrel rolled as a car door was sent flying his way crashing into the railing causing it to shake around wildly.

"_Never mind!_"

The creature flexed its powerful legs and gave a mighty leap, clearing the first level and landing on the railing as well, making an indent on the metallic material, its red eyes glaring deeply into blue, it looked almost hungry...like it was searching for something.

Now that it was even closer, the blonde noticed that the black vein markings began to pulse even more, and it was giving him a slight tingly sensation in the back of his head.

Whatever this creature was, it had something familiar in it.

The monster snapped out of whatever trance like state it was in and began its assault once more, clearing the distance between the two in less than a second, its free hand raised high into the air, claws stretched wide.

Naruto growled as he raised both hands, pumping Chakra into them to make them stronger as he caught the larger appendage, wincing at the strength of the blow.

The monster growled, and cocked its head back, then gave a mighty head butt causing the blonde to holler in pain and fall to his knee, letting go of the arm in surprise as he gripped his forehead, blood leaking from the broken skin.

The large creature didn't give up there however, it then gave a powerful knee thrust into his gut, bringing the blonde up and sending him rocketing into the ceiling, the teen then collided with the a support beam, blue eyes widening at the sudden pain, as a rush of blood flew from his mouth.

"_Shit! T-This thing is fucking strong!_" he thought to himself as he fell face first to the ground.

With no weapon, and his current Chakra level things were not looking good for the blonde at all, he needed to find a way to fight back soon, or else this could be it.

Whatever else he was thinking was ended suddenly as the monster slammed its shoulder into his side mid fall, sending them both into the wall, and making the blonde scream out in pain, a crunching sound reaching his ears as the super infected backed off, watching him fall from the wall onto the ground slowly holding his ribs in pain.

The creature gave a piercing roar, cocking its hand back, the whip responding to the action as it cut through the air, then with a swift jerk, the bone weapon was sent hurling the blondes way, the sharp tip that was still stained with his earlier blood rushing towards his torso.

"Shit!" the blonde cried, eyes darting around for anything he could use as the deadly weapon approached, growling, he forced himself to move despite the pain. His beaten body falling over to the side, just as the whip broke through the wall once more.

Pushing through the pain as much as he could, while the Kyubi did its best to heal the wounds, he gripped the bone weapon and then with all his strength attempted to snap it.

Bone was still bone, and it could be broken.

The blonde however didn't count on the creature being smart either, as it pulled back its weapon, the sharp edges cutting the blondes hand.

"What the hell!?"

He couldn't fight like this, he was literally a sitting duck right now. With barley any connection to his Chakra, and no way of fighting back, he was literally screwed.

"There has to be something I can use!" he whispered, ducking another attack and watching the creature roar in anger, suddenly it hit him.

It wasn't complete, and he still didn't have the finesse that Kyubi wanted him to have with it, but it was better than nothing.

* * *

_A much younger blonde panted heavily as he fell to one knee, the clearing he currently resided in was now nothing but a small crater in which he was in the center of. _

_"Kyubi! How was that?" he asked mentally to the fox._

_ "**Good. You're getting close, you need to control more of the output, and lessen the extent of the outside damage. The attack is precise and lethal, it isn't meant for mass destruction like this.**" the fox responded, mentally gesturing to the small crater the teen resided in. _

_Naruto gave a loud groan, falling onto his butt as he stared at the clear night sky. He had been at this for a couple of months, but the Tenkai was a tough Taijutsu to master, let alone understand, but he didn't plan on giving up. He needed this, who knows how long he'd be without access to his full Chakra pools, the whiskered teen had to have some sort of ace encase of who knows what, after all, wherever he went trouble seemed to follow. _

_"Okay! One more time!" the Uzumaki cried, pumping his fist in the air in excitement as a grin split his whiskered face. _

_"**Remember, the Tenkai is an Uzumaki art, make use of your already enhanced healing and endurance. By my estimate, your body can handle the transformation for no more than three minutes, any longer and it will shut down from the stress.**" Kyubi warned, watching from inside the cage as the blonde gave a loud snort, a cocky smirk replacing the grin._

_ "I've got this!" he stated confidently out loud. _

_Closing his eyes, he began to focus, inhaling deeply as the familiar warm feeling coursed through his body, around him, the pressure increased as his outline began to glow a dark blue color. _

_"Focus on control, instead of exploding the Chakra pathway, concentrate the energy flow." _

_Snapping his eyes open, he prepared to activate the Tenkai, when he suddenly felt darkness creep up from around him, a sudden cold feeling gripping him as the warmth left, and then just like that, he dropped to the ground on his back, out from exhaustion and over working his body, the last thing he heard were the words of the fox._

_"**Too much brat, your body can only handle so much. The Tenkai is a reverse of the Eight Gates, created by the Uzumaki. Unlike the Gates, which involve flooding your Chakra pathways, you thin them out, concentrating all of the Chakra flow into one part of your body for a powerful attack. You have quite the amount of Chakra, which means more work.**" the beast closed its eyes as it prepared to rest as well._

_ Naruto chuckled in his mind, ready to give in to the demands of his body for rest, who the hell was he to give up? _

_He'll get this no problem, but first, some rest._

_ Just like that, the young Uzumaki passed out in the middle of yet another crater, dreaming of sweet Ramen and a harem of women feeding it to him._

* * *

Naruto grinned, its been a while since he had attempted to use the Tenkai because of the stress it put on his body, but now was an emergency. Slowly standing, he glared at the super infected before him, cracking his neck as he did so.

"Alright ugly. You want a fight, you've got one!"

Crossing his fingers, he made a familiar hand sign.

"Shadow Clone no Jutsu!" Two puffs of smoke later, and another two blondes stood next to the blonde, who was now on his knees coughing up blood.

"T-This better work!" the teen whispered, wiping the blood from his lip as he tried focusing on the fight and ignoring the pain.

"Alright you guys, distract him while I get ready!" he ordered, lifting himself up.

"Right!" the clones chorused, then rushed the confused creature, as it was seeing triple, giving it a powerful double tackle and taking it down to the ground.

"_Alright! Let's do this!_" the original chanted mentally.

Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, flexing his body as a warm feeling coursed through him once more. Thinning out the Chakra output in his body, he ignored the monster roaring and the puff of smoke from the first of his clones scumming to its spine whip.

The blondes body began to glow with a dark blue outline once more, as the pressure thickened around him, small cracks appearing on the floor. His skin grew a paler color, as the blood rushed wildly around him, while veins bulged and pulsed all around his body.

Another puff of smoke, and a loud cry, as the final clone fell to the mutated infected.

Naruto winced as his ribs snapped back into place, and his wounds slowly began to heal as his Uzumaki traits began to be pushed to their farthest limits in order to keep his body in a stable form.

"Three minutes. All I need!" he growled, snapping his eyes open to reveal a slightly lighter blue with a dilated pupil.

Flexing his arms, he watched as his exposed veins pulsed, and relished in the power he was feeling.

The super infected roared, and then charged at the blonde, in return, Naruto just stood there, a smirk slowly forming as the creature approached ready to tear him limb from limb. The infected brought its powerful claw down in a flash, crushing the ground underneath it, sending smoke and debris flying out all around him and the blonde.

"You missed." Naruto whispered from behind it.

In a show of strength, the blonde grabbed the creature by the arm, and then twisted it back.

"I'm aware that you don't feel pain."

Snapping the bone with his hand, he watched as the creature squirmed and roared, unable to move as the teen had it pinned.

"I remember why you're so familiar now. Two years ago, I fought someone with a Bloodline that resembled your little bone powers. Kimmimaro. That's what his name was."

Squeezing his hold, he slowly began to pull back, while with his other hand, he ripped out the Kunai that was still stuck in its leg.

Growling, the blonde pulled, and in one swift movement ripped the larger limb from the body of the infected, blood spewing everywhere as the creature roared in what seemed like pain, causing a slim blonde eyebrow to rise.

"So you can feel pain.." he whispered.

Crouching low, he watched as the creature let go of the spine whip, and held the stub that was now its arm, its crimson eyes wide.

The teen grinned, it was time for a little pay back, and just as he was about to attack, the creature turned and grabbed the spine whip, ripping it off its back, even more blood pooling around it, then slammed the end into the stub that was now his arm, its healing factor coming into play as tissue and muscle formed around the bone weapon, until a makeshift arm was formed out of the whip.

"Holy shit...I'm going to need to repress that." Naruto stated, eyes wide.

The creature roared in rage, and then charged, its new arm cocked back as the hand, which was now a small blade, was aimed directly for the blonde.

Naruto ducked under the attack, and then gave a powerful kick to the creatures gut, sending it flying back, the blonde wasn't done however as he disappeared in a burst of speed, reappearing above the creature, and giving a bone crushing blow to its chest, the creatures back hitting the ground as a small crater formed around it.

Oh yea, definitely payback time.

* * *

Shizuka sighed as the Humvee drifted over the calm waters of the small river, the group deciding to make their own path to get to the other side of the bridge, it had only been an hour ago since the whiskered blonde had disappeared along with whatever that creature was.

She couldn't help her worry for Naruto, everyone else passed out from exhaustion, the only ones up were her, Kohta, the small girl they rescued who's name she discovered was Alice and Saya.

Takashi had fallen asleep a little after his outburst, with Rei and Saeko falling over him, Kyoko had taken to the back of the Humvee, while Yuuki had fallen asleep on her chest.

Things hand gotten tense in the group, more specifically between Takashi and Saya. The pink haired girl seemed to be deep in thought, a forlorn look in her eyes.

From above, Kohta and Alice sang Row Row your Boat, while Kohta changed the words to Shoot Shoot your Gun, something that annoyed the pinkette very much.

"Hey tard! Don't teach such things to little girls!" she hollered from inside the Humvee, making Kohta sweat drop while Alice giggled.

Shizuka sighed once more, and turned to the others. "Wake up everyone" she cried "We're almost there."

Her voice carried through, as Rei slowly opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the sleeping face of Takashi, which brought a smile to her face, however the second thing she saw was Saeko passed out on his lap as well, which brought an annoyed vein to pop over her forehead.

Growling, she pinched the brown haired teens cheeks in a rude awakening.

"Well aren't you popular." she whispered.

Takashi opened his eyes, and gave her a confused stare, only for her to dart her eyes to his lap. The teen followed her eyes, and was surprised, and secretly pleased, to see Saeko slowly awakening, a cute dazed expression over her face.

"W-What?" she whispered, only to then finally realize the position she was in.

The swords woman jumped up in surprise, a blush over her features as Rei grabbed Takashi arms and leveled her with a glare.

From behind them, Kyoko was already waking up Yuuki, who only turned her face to the red headed teacher, grumbling about five more minutes.

"Miku-san, wake up, we're almost to the shore."

At that, she sighed to herself, and slowly stood, stretching her arms out wide as she yawned.

Once everyone was up, Takashi glanced around and asked the first question on his mind.

"Is Naruto back yet?"

At the mention of the blonde, spirits went down, no one could deny they weren't worried for their blonde friend, although each to a different degree.

"I'll take that as a no.." he whispered.

Saya glanced at her childhood friend and growled, she hated seeing him down, and all because of that stupid blonde. She couldn't deny that she above all others was worried, but she was positive he would be fine, I mean, there was no way that hard headed ass would die?

Right?

The more she thought about it, the angrier she felt.

"_Why does he have to be a fucking hero all the time!?_"

Shaking her head at herself, she tried to focus on more pressing matters at hand, there was no use in thinking like that, after all, as long as she believed in him he would be fine.

Unfortunately, some others didn't share her state of mind, as they didn't know the blonde long enough.

Saeko being one of them.

She prided herself on her skills, but her skills seemed to not be enough it seemed, because if they were, then the blonde would still be with them. Over the last couple of days, he had proven to be quite the loyal friend, and a great help in their survival. It pained her to think of him gone, but whatever that beast was, it was powerful, and with the wound he received, the chances of him surviving were slim to none.

* * *

"Suck it bitch!"

Naruto roared as he slammed the head of the mutated infected into the concrete repeatedly, in just a minute he had decimated the monster completely.

The whiskered teen was not done however, as he then gave it a sharp kick in the side, sending it rocketing towards an abandoned old vehicle, the creature crushing it under its size and weight.

"Who's your daddy!?" he cried, launching himself into the air, gripping his elbow as he fell directly onto its chest, crushing whatever bone was left in the bruised cavity.

"Uzumaki Elbow!"

Yes, his chances of survival were slim to none indeed.

* * *

Takashi however continued to blame himself, his best friend was now in the clutches of some twisted super monster, probably fighting for his life, and because of him they were safe and sound.

If Morita was alive, then he and Naruto would go find him together, but he couldn't do that with the blonde dead, or worse, becoming one of the infected. The brown haired teen swallowed at that, he could only imagine how bad it would be if Naruto become one of them, he was incredibly strong as it was, if he were to ever be turned, it would spell out trouble for the entire world.

* * *

"Stop hitting yourself!" Naruto continued to beat the creature with its severed arm, the car underneath it being crushed even more from the force of each blow.

One minute thirty seconds.

Oh yes, he was enjoying this.

* * *

Everyone else felt the same, while Kohta was making sure Alice was entertained, he couldn't help but think of his blonde friend. Although he was only just starting to know blonde because of the situation they were placed in, he was truly enjoying it, he added a sort of care free vibe to the ever present death the were forced to face in the past couple of days.

He trusted the blonde to return however, Kohta knew there was something strange about the blonde, and one thing was for sure, not even some freaky monster could kill him.

The strangest of all was Yuuki, with the blonde gone, she had no shield to hide behind, the girl was no fool, the only reason she was even allowed to stay in the group was because of him, and now that he might be dead, because let's face it, even if he did manage to escape whatever that monster was, he would have bled to death by now: who knows how long until they leave her to fend for herself, she could already tell that Saya and Rei had a problem with her, and the only person she really knew here was Kyoko, seeing as she was apart of the Ping Pong club her Freshman year.

_"Maybe I should have stayed with Shido..shit, I'll stick with then just a little longer. Who knows, they might still be useful._" the short haired girl mused.

Speaking of the red headed teacher, her thoughts were on the blonde as well, caught between the sick satisfaction of knowing he might be dead, and the painful feeling in her chest that she still couldn't comprehend.

"_I don't understand. This is what I wanted, why don't I feel as good as I should._"

She couldn't get those cold blue eyes out of her head after she had called him a monster, perhaps she really did cross the line.

Even if he did survive, she doubted the blonde would be forgiving her anytime soon, so why did she care for his opinion or forgiveness? The woman sighed mentally, she just wanted a break, they all did.

As the Humvee left the still waters and rode on the grassy lands, one thought was currently going through most everyone's minds.

"_Naruto, come back safely._"

* * *

"Shit!" the whiskered teen cursed, ducking as the now enraged monster swung its blade arm around wildly, it seemed that taking a beating from the blonde really sparked its anger, and it wanted nothing more than payback itself.

The creature gave out a roar and closed the distance between the two in a flash, giving the once cocky teen a powerful back hand that floored him.

"_I'm starting to feel the after effects of the Tenkai, I need to finish this now!_" he thought.

True to his word, he was already at two minutes in release state, any longer and his body would shut down from the stress.

Kicking himself up, he back flipped out of the way in time to avoid being sliced in half, and with a swift flick of his wrist, sent the Kunai in his hand flying straight for the creatures eye.

Being wide open, it had no time to dodge as the sharp end of the weapon pierced its crimson orb, blood pooling from the wound.

"I only have one shot!" Naruto whispered as he cocked his fist back, the veins bulging even more as a navy blue aura surrounded it.

Naruto watched as the creature ripped the Kunai out, its eye beginning to heal right before his eyes.

"_Just a little more!_" he thought.

Two minutes thirty six seconds.

The mutated infected roared one final time and charged, its bladed arm ready to tear into him and end his very life. The blondes arm grew larger as it was coated in the aura, small wisps trailing off of it.

"Come on." he whispered, watching it get closer and closer.

Two minutes forty two seconds.

Blue eyes widened as the pupils morphed into slits once more, the creature was now inches away from him, the spine blade extended.

"Now!" he roared.

The blonde threw his fist out forward with al the force he could muster, the glowing appendage colliding with the end of the bone blade, and actually resisting the sharp weapon. From underneath, the ground cracked from the force of the blow as the blonde pushed even more power into the attack, his eyes returning to their regular blue color as he lost the glowing outline, the veins that throbbed around his body receding, and his skin returning to its natural tan.

"Take this! **K********eibatsu**** no Kyuuten!**"

Just like that, the blondes fist tore through the bone blade, breaking it into little pieces before continuing to tear through the makeshift arm, then, in one final blow, the blondes fist connected with the creatures head, from behind, a hole the size of a full van was blown through the factory wall as the winds rushed and roared.

The creature gave out one final roar before its head was completely crushed from the attack, its body rocketing back and crashing into a pile of rubble, smoke rising from the scorched and headless neck.

Naruto then reverted back to his normal state, the Tenkai release disappearing.

Two minutes fifty five seconds.

Just in time.

The blonde fell to his knees as he threw up a large amount of blood, the effects of holding the technique for so long, as well as the over use of Chakra hitting him full force. It felt like his insides were on fire, and his organs were being put through a blender, the blonde could feel the rift energy over running his system, tearing it apart causing him to vomit another pile of blood. It was only when the Kyubis healing Chakra came in that he could let himself fall to the floor in exhaustion.

"Never 'pant' doing 'pant' that 'pant' again." the teen wheezed.

He let himself lay there for a while, before finally standing up and making his way to the gaping hole he created in the wall with his attack.

Stepping out, he turned to the down creature and flicked it off, then turned to the outside, only to be met with pure chaos. The factory was on a higher hill, so he could see from where he was standing the blood stained streets, lower infected rampaging through and tearing people apart, everything from eye balls to limbs flying through the air as smoke and fire clogged the air, cars crashing into each other and buildings alike causing explosions as people with guns ran the streets shooting at the walking corpses and each other. Women, children, men, young and old screamed in terror, while choppers flew high over the sky full of men dressed in the Special Forces outfit trying to contain the chaos.

It was hell on Earth.

Naruto clenched his fists at the sight, and looked away, his eyes on the bridge that had the most lights and people. He needed to get across that bridge, and get to the other side to meet up with the others, or at least see if they were stuck on the bridge as well.

Steeling himself, the blonde rushed off, leaving the corpse behind. If he would have stayed for a fraction of a second longer, he would have seen a small twitch in its only remaining arm.

The fight had only just begun.

* * *

**-OMAKE 1-**

_The leaves would fall, some farther than others, from the tall tree that stood in the forest. Each leaf represented a part of the great tree, although each leaf was different, they all came from the same home, and time and time again, they sheltered the home from the cold, or the intense heat. From that great tree, two small leaves fell at the same time, drifting slowly to the ground as the gentle breeze carried them._

* * *

At the tender age of twelve, Uzumaki Naruto had seen many of things. He was already wiser to the world than most people could ever be, but all the pain never cracked his smile.

It was hard, he would admit that, to always move forward, to never look back and ignore those who told him he would never achieve anything, but he did it, and one day, they would all see just how wrong they were.

That brought a bright grin to his face.

"What are you smiling about idiot?" a low voice questioned.

Cerulean eyes stared into dark onyx, and the blonde found himself frowning.

Uchiha Sasuke was the exact opposite of him, he had everything he could ever want, all doors were open to him, and yet, he chose to ignore all the love, and actually shelter himself in the loneliness and hate.

Naruto knew this, because he had been there once before. So close to that point, so ready to crack and allow his hate to take over, but one small action changed everything.

Now, here he was, Genin under Hatake Kakashi, and a member of Team Seven. On his way to achieving all of his dreams.

"None of your business bastard!" he responded hotly.

The Uchiha gave a 'hn' sound and turned away from the annoying, as he saw him, blonde.

Naruto and Sasuke.

These two had a habit of causing problems whenever they were around, but as of right now, they were the only two in each others presence, their sensei long gone, and the third member of the team, one Haruno Saukra already gone as well, each leaving after the team training was over and done with.

Somehow, the two remained.

Each having the same idea, train even more, be even better.

So now, here they were.

The blonde leaning against one of the poles he had been tied onto not even two months ago, while Sasuke stood beside him, sitting on one of the others.

It was late, they both knew it, the sunset was washing a serene portrait on the sky, pink and orange and white and blue.

Naruto chuckled to himself as he gazed at the sky.

"Hey, bastard." he spoke.

Sasuke opened his eyes, and glanced at the blonde giving him a questioning look.

"See that, the sky, it kind of looks like us. Pink for Sakura-chan. Orange for me. Blue for you, and white for Kakashi-sensei." he pointed out.

The Uchiha gazed at the clouds, his dark eyes seemingly brighter as they took in the colors. He guessed it was kind of ironic. The Sharingan wielder let a small smirk fall into place, not one of superiority, but a playful one.

Something seen rarely by most other people, expect Naruto.

"Idiot." he stated simply.

Surprisingly, the blonde did not respond, instead, he just gave a much smaller grin and raised his arms, before placing them behind his head.

Kicking back as the two watched the colors begin to blend, time went on, until there was nothing but the dark blue sky, and the orange streaks that pierced the night.

* * *

_The two leaves danced on their way down, intertwining with each other, before suddenly splitting apart . Only for the small breeze to push them back together. They were slowly approaching the ground, the end of their journey, and one of the small leaves drifted a little farther from the tree._

* * *

Sasuke sighed inwardly.

The blonde next to him had chosen to close his eyes and bask in the final warm rays the orange sun provided.

Why bother?

The sun would set, and then there would be nothing but a cold and lonely night ahead for the two orphans.

He knew it.

He had seen it with his own eyes, while other children ran to their parents, to be happy, to celebrate, they walked alone.

They woke up alone, they ate alone, they left their cold homes, and came back to an even colder place. Happiness was only temporary, and it was only a distraction, something that made you weak.

Why should he allow himself to feel the warmth of love, when at the end of the day he still had to face the cold reality.

He felt anger swell up inside of him, anger at himself, anger at Naruto.

How did the fool do it!

He would question himself every day.

How could he still smile, how could he give them a chance.

Sasuke was not blind, he noticed how the villagers would treat the blonde, the looks of pure disgust and hate, mixed with a little fear, and on others, guilt.

Yet, the blonde ignored it all, he moved forward, he forgave them every single day of his life. What he hated the most was the look in his eyes as he did it, a look of understanding, as if he didn't mind being the object of hate, shouldering the pain so others didn't have to.

It drove him insane.

"_You don't have enough hate.._"

His brothers words would leave him feeling cold and haunted, weak and powerless.

The nightmares, the constant nightmares when he would wake up alone, tears falling down his face as he witnessed the death of his family over and over again.

The nagging feeling in the back of his head, the voice that would tell him that it was wrong, that his brother would never do that without reason. To forgive him, to ask for answers.

He was just lonely is all, he still foolishly thought that maybe it was all a bad dream, and he still had not woken up from it.

That one day, the sweet sound of his mothers voice would call to him, and his eyes would snap open, and everything would be okay. He might even invite Naruto over to the clan home after the Academy, and treat him to a nice dinner with his family, so the blonde could experience it, at least once.

Itachi would always tell him to befriend the young whiskered teen, when he would as why, he would receive a small smile, and his brother would speak.

"Because loneliness is a harsh reality."

He never understood, until now.

He knew he should have been training, getting stronger, that just sitting here with the orange wearing loud mouth ninja that he had begun to call his closest friend was nothing but a waste of time, but..he didn't mind it, not one bit.

* * *

_The small leaf drifted farther away, but for some strange reason, the winds picked up, and the other leaf pushed against it. Causing them both to drift closer to the tree, and each other, than ever before._

* * *

"Hey, Sauske."

The Uchiha was mildly surprised that he used his name.

"Hn." he responded, he was never one for words.

The blonde extended his hand out, finger tips seemingly brushing the sky and the moon. Tonight was one of those rare nights when even though the sun had yet to disappear, the moon was visible.

Two different things, each a necessity, never showing at the same time, for a small moment lived in peace on the same sky.

"Back at the bridge..why did you save?" the blonde asked.

Sasuke paused, his mind drifting back to the particular memory,he found himself squashing down a tinge of jealousy at the fact that Naruto was the one to defeat the powerful Shinobi known as Haku.

"I told you, my body just moved on its own.." he responded quietly.

It was a crap answer, he knew it, Naruto knew it, but still, the blonde gave a grin and chuckled.

"You know..I think..no, I know. If the situation was reversed, my body would move on its own too."

It was a simple statement.

Yet, it meant so much to the young Uchiha.

For once, a small true smile fell upon his face, something that Naruto did not miss, if the smile on the whiskered teens face was anything to go by.

* * *

_The leaves drifted down together, circling each other slowly as they danced in the cool wind. These two leaves, that fell at the same time, that danced together, shared a special bond._

* * *

"Naruto."

Now it was the blondes turn to be slightly surprised.

"Hm?" he responded.

The Uchiha uncrossed his arms, and extended his hand outward.

Naruto stared at the hand for a little, before giving a small grin and reaching up to take it. The two stood, and basked in the warmth of each others company a little more.

No words needed to be spoken, they understood.

Suddenly, Sasuke realized something.

The sun may go down, but the light from the sun still reflected off the moon, allowing it to glow brightly in the dark sky.

The sun never left, and the moon was never really alone, and as the two walked side by side into the forest, two small leaves danced behind them in the breeze.

* * *

**Gotta say, this had to be one of my favorite Chapters to write. Hope you guys liked it, by the way, I took down Rise and Son's of the Battle cry, I have new plans for them. Anyway I'll be making Omakes at the end of some of the chapters now to not only increase character depth and relationship, but as fun, like when Naruto, Morita and Takashi go to the strip club. This one I made a small one shot, but took it down because I felt like it would make more sense in this story, hope you liked it. This chapter sure does bring up a lot of questions huh? I can't wait till we get further into the story, I have so many goodies for you guys. Let me know what you think, review!**

**Next Chapter- Maelstrom Awakened**

**Translations and Infected Guide:**

**Tenkai (Heavens Release)**

**K****eibatsu** no Kyuuten(Judgment of Heaven)


	11. A Promise Made

**The Will to Live**

**A/N New Chapter, I decided to change the Chapter name, hope you enjoy it! Please excuse any spelling and grammar mistakes!**

* * *

"**A Promise Made****"**

* * *

"Naruto! Wake up!" a familiar voice cried in a slightly annoyed tone.

Blue eyes opened slowly, flinching at the bright sunlight as it pierced through his eyelids.

"W-What?" the whiskered blonde whispered.

"Come on Dobe. Wake up, we have to meet Kakashi at the bridge."

Another familiar voice, and this time, blue eyes snapped open as the blonde teen jolted upwards only to meet the annoyed face of one familiar pink haired, green eyed girl, a small frown on her face, and beside her, the nonchalant expression of one raven haired duck-butt Uchiha.

"S-Sakura-chan? S-Sasuke?" the blonde asked, eyes still wide.

A single raven eyebrow rose at the sudden name calling.

"Something wrong idiot? You usually never call me by my actual name?" Sasuke stated, uncrossing his arms and placing his hands in his pockets.

Naruto was still frozen in shock, his eyes drifting to-_his now smaller_-hands. In fact, he noticed he was wearing his old orange jumpsuit, and he felt shorter-a lot shorter-as well as the familiar feeling of his Chakra running freely, without the strange Rift Energy flowing beside it.

"Naruto, are you alright?" Sakura asked, a worried expression replacing the annoyed one.

"W-What?" the golden-blonde teen mumbled.

"I think you hit him a little too hard woman." Sasuke commented, a small smirk over his face as he watched the blonde turn to him, only for the smirk to fall once he noticed the corners of the blondes eyes beginning to water.

He wasn't the only one however, as Sakura noticed as well, her arm extending slowly as she bit her lip.

"Naruto?.." she whispered in worry.

"_It was all a dream? The fight? Sasuke leaving? Takashi? Saya? Shizuka? The New World? It was all..a dream._" the blonde repeated, his heart pumping wildly as he absorbed the information, then in a flash he grabbed the two and embraced them, tears falling from his eyes as he squeezed as tightly as possible.

"It was all a dream.." he continued to whisper-lost in his own world-while Sasuke and Sakura were frozen, unsure of what to do.

Glancing at each other, the two gave a small nod, and slowly hugged the blonde back. Naruto for the life of him couldn't understand what was going on-_and he didn't care_-it was all a dream, he wasn't in a new world, he wasn't facing the end, he wasn't alone.

He was home, with his friends, with Jiraiya, with Kakashi, with Iruka, with Tsunade, with the Rookie Nine. He could still accomplish his dream, he coul-_a sudden realization struck him as the faces of his new friends flashed in his mind._

_W_hat about Takashi? Or Saya? Or Shizuka? Or Saeko?

What about everyone, were they really fake, did he really make them up in some sort of dream?

No!

Maybe he was still stuck in some sort of Genjutsu.

Pushing himself off of the two, his blue eyes suddenly sharpened as he reached into his Kunai holster, pulling out the sharp weapon and holding it defensively.

Sasuke and Sakura were even more confused, one second the blonde was hugging them and crying, the other he's holding a weapon to them as if they were enemy Shinobi.

"Naruto! What are you doing!?" Sakura cried as she backed up a little, the predatory gaze in the blondes eyes sending shivers running down her spine.

"Shut up!" the blonde commanded, a bead of sweat falling down his cheek as his mind raced with plans and assumptions.

"_This can't be real! There's no way!_"

Cerulean eyes narrowed as the teen began to charge up his Chakra, if there was one way to prove this wrong, it had to be this way. No matter how real this felt, his real body would spazz out from an overcharge of Chakra, waking him up from whatever dream he was in.

Then a sudden thought him him.

Did he want to wake up?

"Naruto! Dammit Sakura, how hard did you hit him?" Sasuke growled, his now Sharingan eyes glaring holes into the pinkett, who flinched under the gaze.

"I didn't mean too! I was just practicing a new technique!" she defended.

"On your teammate!" Sasuke bit back.

"Shut up! Shut up!" the younger blonde hollered, his eyes narrowing into mere slits.

There's no way he could have dreamed all of that, you don't just have two year long dream, then find yourself in the middle of an undead apocalypse. This had to be some sort of trick?

An illusion.

But the only person he knew who could do that was Sasuke, and he wasn't even sure if the Uchiha was alive.

Growling, he flipped the Kunai over and aimed it at his hand.

"_Pain should wake me up from whatever this is_."

He could have just bit his lip, but he wasn't sure if that would be enough to wake him up-_he needed to be sure_.

"Naruto! Shit!" Sasuke cried, realizing what the blonde was about to do, a wound like that would end up putting him in the Hospital.

Before he could stop him however, the blonde jammed the Kunai into his hand-_wincing at the pain_-and watching the blood flow freely from the wound, no healing, nothing. The wound was deep, and the blood rushed even more as he removed the Kunai, the blood stained weapon falling to the floor as the whiskered blonde fell to his knees holding his hand.

He didn't register the screaming or the cursing-_he didn't even register the the world spinning around him_-all that he could feel was the burning pain as his eyes closed, a cold feeling washing over his body as he greeted the unconscious with glee, if this was really a dream, then it would be proven now.

* * *

Cerulean blue eyes snapped open once more, as the golden-blonde jolted upwards, surprising three people that surrounded his downed body.

Naruto blinked as he faced three unknown faces, the first was a teen with dark brown hair, two long bangs framing his face. Dark brown eyes reflected a bit of shock, but was schooled under a mask of indifference. The teen wore a simple black shirt, and torn blue jeans with white sneakers.

Next to him was a girl, with long flowing lavender hair that was pulled into a braid. Her eyes were a pale teal color, with a tint of a darker green and she had a pale complexion. Over her body was a light blue flower shirt, and tan cargo shorts with blue sandals.

The final of the three was another male, this one with spiky black hair and deep blue eyes, a small scar on the side of his face running horizontally under his eye. He wore a baggy blue jacket and tan jeans with white sneakers.

The three looked to be around fourteen years old, and from the looks of it, they had been taking care of him while he was unconscious.

After a moment of awkward silence, the teen with the spiky black hair gave a small nervous grin and spoke.

"Uhh..hi there."

Next to him, the girl sighed, while the other male rubbed his temples.

Naruto continued to stare at the three, before giving a matching grin of his own.

"Sup." he responded.

The male with the brown hair snorted at the two, already annoyed for some unknown reason.

"Tch, we managed to save another idiot. Congratulations." he spoke as he stood and placed his hands in his pocket-_in a very Sasuke like way_-the blonde noticed.

The girl giggled at the twos actions, while the darker haired of the three growled and flicked his friend off.

"Ignore them, they bicker a lot. My names Sasume, and these two are Sen and Taka." she gestured to the two.

Sen gave another grin, while Taka gave a familiar 'hn' sound.

Naruto was still frozen at the familiarity of their actions-_it was like another team seven_-in some sort of awkward way.

Shaking his head mentally, he laughed at the idea.

"_I don't even know them, and I'm already comparing them to us. That dream must have messed me up a little._"

At the the thought of the dream, the blonde found himself a bit depressed, he had hoped, that maybe it wasn't a dream-that maybe he really did make this all up. However, life was once again cruel. He was stuck in this hell, and there was no way of returning home.

His mood rolled off of him in waves, something the three younger teens noticed, although they thought it was for a different reason.

"Hey man..uhh, what's your name?" Sen asked, a sheepish grin on his face.

Naruto blinked at the familiar grin, and then smiled.

"Naruto." he responded.

The dark haired teen gave a nod, while Taka raised an eyebrow.

"After the Ramen topping?" he asked with a bit of humor in his voice.

Naruto growled as a vein pulsed on his forehead-_he was really getting tired of the whole Ramen jab_.

"Maelstrom. It mean's Maelstrom." he mumbled.

Taka shrugged and gave no response. The blonde was really about to question his sanity, this kid was acting exactly like his own broody Uchiha, he wouldn't be surprised if his eyes flashed red for a second.

Sasume groaned as she too stood, then grabbed both of the teens by the ear, ignoring their cries of protest and pain.

"Listen here, this guy saved our lives. So you be polite!" she ordered, the righteous feminine fury aura covering her body.

Naruto blinked, and tried to spring a memory of the three up, only to find none.

"Uhm, I'm sorry, but when did I save you?" the whiskered teen asked.

Three pairs of eyes blinked, before Sasume gave a small sigh. "Well, I guess it was a year or so back, so you might not remember us, but we remember you."

* * *

"_Sen!" A younger Sasume cried as the spiky haired teen was knocked to the ground, wincing as his cheek collided with the hard concrete._

_ "Bastard!" Taka growled as he rushed the group of six or so men, each smirking as the brown haired pre-teen cocked his fist back and gave a cry, only for the lead man to duck and slam his knee into the boys stomach. He the followed it up with a rough shove to the ground, sending Taka rolling across the pavement, cutting his body up. _

_"Sorry kids, but you're in Dragon Territory, and if you don't pay up, you will get hurt." the leader, a man with slicked back blonde hair and snake like eyes spoke._

_ "Hey boss, that girls kind of cute, bet she'd get a mighty fine price in the market." one of the thugs from the back stated, getting a chorus of agreement from the others. _

_The leader smirked even wider, and approached Sasume who was backing up slowly, her heart pumping wildly as fear clenched her very core. The man reached over and grabbed her cheeks roughly, pulling her in an examining her. _

_"Yeah, she would. If she's a virgin we'd get a fine price, but if not...well...more fun for us." _

_The men laughed, while Sen growled, lifting himself shakily off the ground as he stood, his swollen left eye shut from the bruise forming. _

_"Don't touch her!" he roared, rushing the surprised man and landing a powerful blow to his jaw. _

_The White Dragon member wiped the blood from his lip, and gave the pre-teen a furious glare, grabbing him by the hair and slamming his face on the wall._

_ "You little shit!" he cried, punching him in the ribs repeatedly, ignoring the cries of pain._

_ "You like this little bitch don't you?" he whispered into his ear, as he brought his mouth close to the teens ear "Well, I'll make sure I do her right for the both of us."_

_ Sen squirmed at that, his anger boiling over once more. Just as the leader of the small group was about to strike, a sudden fist to the back of his head stopped any further actions, as a bleeding Taka gave him a small smirk._

_ The smirk didn't last much longer as the other men rushed the pre-teen, knocking him into the ground as they began to kick him and punch him in random locations. The leader stood and watched in satisfaction as they beat on the smaller male as he rubbed the back of his head._

_ Turning to Sen, he lifted him up by the hair once more, and punched him directly in the face over and over. _

_"You **punch** have **punch** a lot of **punch** spirit!" he then let the dark haired boy drop the floor, his lip and nose bleeding as he stared at the sky with a dazed expression "I like that, too bad I'm going to have to break it." _

_Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small blade, and then held it to the thirteen tear olds cheek. _

_"No!" Taka cried as he extended a hand outward only for one of the men to stomp on it. _

_"Shut up brat!"_

_ Taka roared in pain as he clutched his arm, he could feel some of the bone cracking as he did so._

_ The Dragon member gave a sick grin, before turning back to Sen, and then placing the blade over the teens cheek, then cutting deep-the young male screaming in pain-as the blade was dragged across his skin deeply._

_ "I'm going to give you a little memory." the man chuckled. _

_"Dynamic Entry!" _

_All eyes turned to see an orange and black blur slam into the lead thugs face-the sound of bones breaking echoing around the deep alley-as the man flew through the air and then slammed into the wall, then falling into an unconscious bliss. _

_All eyes turned to the scowling face of a whiskered blonde teen, his blue eyes glaring into the thugs. You didn't need to be a genius to understand what was going on here. _

_"How pathetic, grown men picking on children." the teen whispered, although it was heard as clear as if he was yelling. _

_"What!? Who the hell are you!?"_

_ Naruto, or rather the strange blonde didn't respond, instead, he bent down and examined the dazed Sens face, growling as he saw the damage, letting him down gently, he turned to the still staring men._

_ "Screw pathetic, you're trash." _

_The gang didn't take to well to that, as they moved from Taka, and approached the now standing blonde, frowns and smirks varying on each face. _

_"Listen kid, normally, we'd tell you to leave. But after what you did to boss, and those little comments. We'll settle for teaching you a lesson. You're in Dragon territory, your life is forfeit." another goon spoke, the men behind him chuckling darkly._

_ Naruto didn't respond, instead he just cracked his neck, then motioned for them to come with his index and middle finger. _

_What happened next would be what the three younger teens consider 'domination'. They watched as the blonde tore through the men smoothly and effectively, wincing at the sound of broken bones and screams. Then, in less then a minute, the blonde stood unharmed-brushing his shoulders off-in the middle of a small pile of groaning and unconscious bodies._

_"Hm, they weren't that tough." he mused._

_ Turning around, he gave a small wave as he left behind three stupefied teens. _

_"Wait!" Sasume cried. _

_The whiskered blonde stopped, titling his head back as he gave her a questioning glance._

_ Hesitating a bit,she turned to her two friends, seeing them both unconscious as well from their wounds, then back to the blonde. _

_"T-Thank you!" she spoke, although a bit quieter._

_ Naruto gave a wide grin, and was about to speak, when the sound of sirens cut him off. _

_"Shit! The cops!" he cried-taking off as he did so, leaving a confused and sweat dropping girl behind. _

* * *

Naruto blinked at the story.

"I remember that, Saya kicked my ass for coming home late that night." he spoke with a small frown.

Sasume gave a nervous chuckle, but smiled none the less.

"Mhm. We always wanted to find you, and thank you properly, but we never could. So imagine our surprise when we found you unconscious on the street." she finished with a real smile.

The whiskered blonde ran a hand through his hair as he took in the information. If he actually passed out in the middle of the street, then he was even more worn out then he thought, luckily because of his banged up appearance, people probably thought he was dead so they left him alone.

"Well I guess now it's my turn to thank you." Naruto stated.

"Tch, we're even now." Taka mumbled, still sore about what had transpired a year ago.

Sen gave a bright grin, and elbowed his friend in the ribs, receiving a small half hearted glare from the brown haired teen.

"What he means is he appreciates your help."

Naruto gave Taka a grin, in which the teen responded with a small smirk, while Sen extended an arm out to the blonde to help him up, which he gratefully took.

Once he was standing to his full height, he realized he was wearing a fresh and clean white shirt and black jeans, his old torn and bloody clothing must have been thrown away and replaced with this. He had to admit, it felt good to be out of the smelly old fabrics.

"I really appreciate all the help guys." he commented.

"Don't mention it!" Sen responded cheerfully.

"What are you going to do now?" Sasume asked, something the other two were secretly wondering as well.

Naruto considered it for a second, his eyes drifting to the small window to his right, over looking the City, noticing the sun was already setting. He was out for more than an hour, that's for sure.

From his perspective, this was an apartment complex, and they were a couple of floors above ground.

"Well, I have some friends to find, but I won't have much luck searching for them at night. I don't know this part of the City very well. So if you don't mind, can I stay here for the night?" he asked.

The three gave their own way of saying yes, and the blonde grinned in response, uttering a quick thank you.

"I've got some food cooking, if you'd like some." Sasume stated.

At the mention of food, Narutos stomach gave a loud response for him, causing the three younger teens to chuckle and send him amused smirks, the blonde only scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Lead the way."

After the four had set up the small dinner table, and served the food, they sat in a comfortable silence-well as comfortable as it could be with Naruto inhaling the food and them watching-before the blonde finally patted his satisfied belly, a grin on his face.

"That was awesome!" he commented.

Sasume giggled at his antics, watching as Sen did the exact same as he did with amusement.

"Thank you, my mom taught me when I was younger." Sasume responded with a small smile.

Naruto noticed the small flash of pain in her eyes, and mentally sighed, he almost forget these kids were alone now probably.

"You guys must be pretty smart. You've done more than survive so far." the blonde commented, changing the subject.

"Thanks, this is Sens house. It was the safest place we could think of." Sasume responded, while the other teen grinned once more.

"Yup, been here since I was ten years old."

Naruto didn't miss the way he said that, it reminded him of the first time Sasuke and Sakura came over to his apartment.

Glancing around, he noticed that there were no pictures of parents, just him and the other two, something strange but familiar as he had seen the same, only in his own home. "

_He's an orphan.._" the whiskered teen thought to himself, a small pang in his heart as he realized how similar they were.

"You guys seem pretty tight." the teen stated-more than asked-as he gestured to the pictures around the small kitchen.

The three glanced at each other, then gave a nod.

"We've known each other since we were little, Sasumes parents and mine were friends, and my parents ran the local Orphanage. Which is how we met the idiot." Taka explained, gesturing to the now growling Sen.

"You got a problem teme!?" Sen roared as he stood, stomping on the table as he shook his fist at the other male.

Taka 'hnd' and stood as well, smacking the fist away and glaring at his friend, you could have sworn to see sparks fly between them.

Sasume sighed and then stood, slapping them both in the back of the head.

"Shut it you two." she ordered.

The two teens groaned from their position on the floor, while Naruto watched with a small smile on his face. The familiarity of it all, it was honestly incredible-_granted they got along a little better then Sasuke, Sakura, and him_-but still, it was all to familiar.

"You guys are something rare you know." the blonde suddenly commented.

The three turned to him, a questioning expression on their faces as the blonde stood from his sitting position, repressing a wince at his still sore muscles.

"You remind me of me and my old friends, what you have is something special. Don't lose that."

Picking up his dishes, along with the others, he moved to the sink and began to wash them, ignoring the questioning glances as he scrubbed and washed.

"You're a weird one." Sen commented as he stood.

"Look who's talking." Taka responded with a smirk.

"Shut it!" Sasume finished.

"Yes mam." the two responded.

Naruto gave out a loud bark of laughter, and the two younger teens gave him an annoyed glare, before Sen suddenly tackled the blonde to the floor, Taka smirking as he joined his friend, both attacking the blonde as he struggled to shove them off, although he was laughing along with two teens.

In the past days, he'd have to say this was one of the few times he felt fully at peace. These kids, they reminded him so much of Team Seven, it was so strange.

Grabbing the younger teens and placing them both in a head lock, the whiskered blonde stood and walked to the living room, tossing them onto the couch and then sitting on both of their bodies, sighing comfortably as they struggled underneath him.

"So, how do you guys handle the night?" the teen asked.

"Well, we usually each take a night and stay up, while the other two rest. Tonight is Sens night." Sasume responded underneath her giggles.

The teen in question gave a loud groan, letting his head sink into the couch as he did so.

"Goodbye sleep, I knew thee well." he mumbled, although it was slightly muffled.

Naruto gave a grin as he stood, finally letting the duo free.

"How about I stay up for you guys?" he asked.

"Really!? That's gre-"

Sen was cut off as Sasume placed a hand over his mouth, giving the blonde an apologetic smile as the younger teen struggled.

"No! You're still injured. You should get some sleep too." she stated.

Naruto gave a small grin, but nodded none the less. Catching a small blanket thrown his way by Taka, he made his way to the couch, leaving a depressed Sen, while Taka made his bed in the small guest room, and Sasume took up Sens room.

After saying their goodnight, the three slowly drifted to sleep, while Sen sat out in the balcony, a small bat in hand and a revolver in the other, something he picked up on the streets.

As the hours swelled, the teen found his eyes drooping slightly, and just as he was about to fall asleep the sound of the sliding door behind him woke him up. Turning quickly, he was surprised to meet the blinking face of the blonde they currently harbored.

"Whoa there kid, relax." the blonde stated with a small smile.

The shorter male felt his eyebrow twitch at the 'kid' comment.

"Don't call me a kid, you're not even that much older than me." he grumbled as he turned back to face the City.

"Still older." Naruto replied as he took a spot beside him.

The two sat in a comfortable silence for a while, before the blonde glanced over to the sleepy teen. His spiky black hair resembled his when he was younger, and his eyes reflect a fierce determination to protect his friends, something that made the blonde give a small ghost of a smile.

Reaching around his neck, the blonde undid the necklace that rested over his chest, and held it in his hand, staring at the gleaming gem as it glittered in the night.

"It's pretty." Sen whispered.

Naruto nodded.

"It means a lot to me, it represented a promise, but now I can't fulfill the promise." he whispered.

Sen didn't respond, instead, he turned back to watch the twinkling starts, and the lights in the distance. Everything seemed so calm, as if the world wasn't currently ending. There weren't even any infected running about underneath them, seeing as this was more of the abandoned side of the city, so less people.

"Your friends." the blonde suddenly spoke "They mean the world to you right?" he asked.

Sen didn't reply at first, but then gave a slow but confident nod, his eyes burning with that fire-_that familiar fire_-something that he would have called the Will of Fire.

The drive to protect something.

Reaching over, the blonde grabbed the younger teens hand and then placed the necklace in it.

"W-What are you doing?" Sen questioned.

He was about to continue, until he locked with almost guilty blue eyes, much like his own, and then he couldn't find the words to protest anymore.

"I may not be able to keep my promise, but you can make one to me right now. Protect your friends, because they'll need you just as much as you need them. Taka may come off as an ass sometimes, but he cares for you like a brother, and Sasume may be tough, but she loves you just as much. Maybe even more." he added with a wink.

Sen was at a loss for words.

"Do you promise?" the blonde asked the shorter teen.

"Y-Yeah, I promise."

"You promise what?"

His eyes suddenly grew even more fierce, the fire burning brighter.

"I promise to protect them. I promise to protect my precious people." he whispered.

Naruto gave a short nod, and then patted the teen on the head as he turned to face the City. If he could give these kids a reason to fight, a reason to continue on, just like his friends give him a reason, then he was sure they would survive.

"My teacher once told me, those who break the rules are trash." he paused "But those who abandon their comrades are worse then trash."

Those words were imprinted in the younger teens mind, as the whiskered blonde closed his eyes and enjoyed the small breeze that rolled in.

Maybe he did want to go home, but he wouldn't dare leave his friends behind. After all, he said it once before, they were his Will to Live.

On this night, a promise was born, and a torch was passed along, from one to another. To protect the people they care for.

"In the morning, I want you and the others to leave with me. I can take you somewhere safer." Naruto stated.

Sen gave a nod, then spoke.

"I'll have to talk to the others."

Naruto nodded in return, placing his hands in his pocket as he did so.

"I'm sure they'll agree. Now, go get some rest kid."

The blonde gave the shorter teen a wide grin, in which he returned, along with a thank full smile, then left the gun and bat, entering the house before shutting the slide door behind him leaving the blonde to his own. Once he was sure the teen was comfortably asleep, the blonde gave a small sigh as he turned to gaze into the distance. His thoughts on his home for the first time in a while.

He never really thought about it, but did he want to go back?

If he found away, would he go back?

Glancing at his shoulder, his lifted the sleeve up and noticed the wound that was previously there was now gone.

What about that creature, it was obviously after him. He put the others in danger-_granted he didn't even know about its existence_-but they still could have gotten hurt, or worse.

Maybe it was about time he actually started searching for a way home, now was a better time then ever to do it. Kyubi said there was no way back, but once he also said there was no way of returning some of his power.

What was the fox hiding? He _knew_ it knew more than it was letting on.

The teen growled in frustration as he slammed his fist on the railing, leaving a small dent as he did so. He'd be faced with a choice soon, the question is, what choice would he make?

* * *

**Hope you liked this Chapter, things are going to start building up soon. The group will soon be facing some serious tension, and maybe someone will be parting ways. I hope you like my OC's, they will be serving a purpose soon. Anyways, this was more of a Naruto-centered chapter, and next chapter will end the Naruto Alone Arc. Let me know what you think? Later!**


	12. The City that Never Sleeps

**The Will to Live**

**A/N Hey guys, sorry for taking so long, it's my Senior year in High School, and it's been busy, here's the new chapter. I do not own Naruto, HOTD, or any other shows I may reference. Please excuse any spelling and grammar mistakes!**

* * *

"**The City that Never Sleeps "**

* * *

Takashi stood dumbfounded as his pink haired childhood friend rushed off after snapping at him. Between Rei and her sudden anger at him not even seconds after he walked into the large hall, and this, he was really starting to miss his blonde friend.

The dark haired teen felt a gloomy cloud loom over at the thought of the blonde, it had been over a day now since he departed from the group-_a wound the size of a fist on his shoulder_-and an unknown creature chasing after him, Takashi couldn't help but worry.

Shaking his head mentally, he turned to the slowly approaching form of the beautiful Yuriko, a somber expression on her face as she gave the teen an apologetic gaze.

"I really upset her." the woman whispered, a small sad smile over her soft features "Have you seen this side of her? You've been her friend for a long time have you not?"

Takashi responded with a sheepish-and slightly nervous-smile, he didn't really know what to make of the question.

Saya would usually get mad very easily, although it had mellowed out since Naruto came. He however had never seen her like this, it seemed like any little thing would cause her to explode on the nearest person she could.

The teen mentally sighed "_I should try to change the conversation._"

Glancing around, the best he could come up with was the remarkableness of the Takagi home, he'd never really been here-he regretted it now-but he had heard of the family much from Saya, always saying that her mother and father were the smartest, and the best, then she recently started talking about a new guest of their home, who he finally learned was Naruto.

Of course she only mentioned those things to him, as anyone else would probably take it the wrong way.

"This is amazing, I knew your home was big, but this is just..wow.." the dark haired teen commented.

Yuriko gave a smile, her eyes darting to the outside-watching as men and women worked, doing all from keeping guard to carrying different things ranging from food to weapons around the green fields.

It was a safe place, but for how long?

"Yes, I guess you could say it is. You never really came over to play did you?"

Takashi shook his head a no.

The older woman smiled, the boy was honest, she could already tell that. No wonder he made such easy friends with the whiskered blonde, granted anyone could make friends with him, but it took a special characteristic to actually get as close to him as Takashi was.

"Don't you find the home of the leader of an Ultra-National Group to be a little frightening?"

The teen thought it over, and then gave a sheepish smile as he placed one hand in his pocket, and the other over the back of his head.

"In a way, when you're friends with someone like Naruto. Not many things come to scare you anymore."

Yuriko gave a small chuckle.

"Yes, Naruto is an interesting young man. Speaking of which, none of you have really told me anything of his whereabouts?"

At that, Takashi visibly deflated.

"I-I don't know.." he whispered.

He was still feeling the sting of not being able to help his friend, and watching helplessly as he ran away, heavily wounded, and a monster he would only see in his nightmares on hot pursuit.

Yuriko saw this, and gave the teen a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry. I've known that boy for years. He'll be fine."

The woman squashed down her own worries, she herself had come to care for the blonde greatly-seeing him as a son one could say-and the fact that he wasn't here and out there alone instead, did worry her.

Takashi gave a nod, he knew Naruto would be fine.

"_But what if he wasn't?_" a small voice whispered.

The darker haired teenager would ignore that voice, because he _knew _that the blonde would return in one piece-_at __least he hoped._

"Komuro-san. I have a small question." Yuriko suddenly spoke, breaking the small silence that had come about from the depressing topic.

"Hm?"

The woman turned to stare at something, Takashi noticed that it seemed to be the power plant far off north.

"Do you know where we get our energy from?"

"The dam." he responded easily.

"Yes, much like our water, we get our power from the Tokonosu Dam up North at Okunaku." she then paused "But now, everywhere is filling up with these creatures. A small part of the SDF was on stand-by, however, they've been deployed elsewhere now. Do know why?"

Takashis eyes slowly widened as he recalled the Choppers he saw on the School roof days ago, and the sudden realization hit him.

"To protect the transformer substation and the hydro plants." he paused as the woman gave him a nod "Then, what about the maintenance?"

"How long do you think the people there will be able to continue with Maintenance, they have families do they not? It's not like their families will be there with them."

Yuriko then turned her attention to the large bus that was currently being fortified, Takashi following her gaze, and finally putting the pieces together.

"Then, using that bus.."

Yuriko gave him a nod.

"Yes, we will take full responsibility. However, we will only take along those who have the will to survive."

She then turned to the stunned teen, and gave a small smile.

"I have no doubt you all have that will."

Takashi gave her a slow nod, as his thoughts wandered on what she said.

They did have the will to survive, that was made clearly evident. However, how long until they lost that.

What of their families? What if one of them found out that their mother or father, or anyone they considered dear was now a monster.

Would they give up?

Would he have to leave them behind?

All these questions raced through his head.

* * *

Taka felt his eyebrow twitch at the scene he walked into. Somewhere in the the back of his mind he crushed the urge to call the spiky haired blonde an idiot as he twitched on the cold ground, sleeping peaceful, and a fully loaded weapon in his hand.

"_This is the man we're supposed to follow through a hell torn city?_" he thought, already dreading the trip they would soon be taking.

Sighing, the teen raised his leg and unceremoniously shook the blonde with his foot, watching as droopy blue eyes opened up slowly.

"Get up. Everyone else is already prepared to leave."

Naruto wiped the drool from his mouth, and slowly stood, rubbing his back and groaning as he did so.

"Oh man, my back!" the older teen mumbled.

Turning to the shorter boy, he yawned and did a little stretch, noticing Taka wince as his bones popped back into place.

"What time is it?"

"It's around six, we let you sleep in since you took Guard."

Naruto gave a bright grin.

"Well that was nice of you guys!"

"Not my idea." Taka mumbled, turning around swiftly and entering the small apartment-leaving a pouting blonde behind to glare holes at his back.

"Well, aren't you a ball of sunshine." Naruto mumbled.

Taka gave a small snort in response as Sen and Sasume walked into the small living room from the kitchen, small packs in their hands as they talked amongst each other, only to stop once Naruto entered, scratching his head with the back of the revolver.

"Morning Blondie! How'd you sleep?" Sen asked with a wide grin.

Naruto gave him a small smile, while simultaneously catching a small snack that Taka threw at him.

"Pretty alright. I needed some rest, no matter how uncomfortable it was."

His blue eyes glanced down to the small granola bar in his hands, it wasn't much, but it was something to put in his stomach for now. He really did need to find a way to thank these kids, and getting them to a safe location was a fair trade.

"Alright guys. Pack up, we're going to be heading out right now!" Naruto hollered, taking a bite of the chewy bar.

He blinked once he noticed they were already packed, and Taka gave him a slightly arrogant smirk as if saying 'we're already ready, and we're waiting for you'. Which meant he was the dead weight right now.

Naruto Uzumaki was no dead weight!

The blonde was interrupted from his mental rage by the female of the group.

"Um, Naruto-san, where are we going?" Sasume questioned.

In fact, the other two were just as curious.

When Sen had approached them earlier with Narutos offer, they were slightly nervous, even Taka could admit to that. They had a nice little set up here, but they knew they couldn't keep themselves fooled for long, sooner or later they would be stuck between a hard and a rock place-this area was less populated with the infected, but that wouldn't last very long and they all knew it.

So they had all decided that their best choice would be to travel with the blonde to a safer location.

"Well, the group I was traveling with was trying to find their families."

At the word families, Sen flinched, although the blonde was the only one who caught it.

"If they crossed the river, then the closest place they could have gone too would be Sayas."

It would also be the safest place.

Sayas mother and father were nothing to mess with, and the blonde was positive they had already developed some sort of safe haven or at least had a plan.

Nodding to himself, he turned to the three and gave them a bright grin.

"Alright kids! Give me a minute to be ready, and then we'll head out. Sen!" the blonde cried, tossing the weapon still in his hand to the shorter teen, which he caught swiftly, a nervous expression on his face.

"Be careful! This things loaded!" he barked.

The other two had inched away from the-insane in their eyes-blonde, while Sen caught his breath as Naruto walked calmly past them towards the bathroom, giving a small wave.

"Gather anything else you need, but make sure it's light. Chances are half the things you bring along won't survive the trip."

With that, the door shut behind him, leaving three flabbergasted young teens. As if something suddenly struck them, they glanced at each other awkwardly, then two pairs of eyes turned to the shortest of the group.

"Sen..this is your home." Sasume spoke "Are you sure you're ready to leave like this? I mean, we could barricade ourselves a lot better. We don't have to leave.

Taka gave a small nod, his expression serious and the usual smirk gone.

"She's right. We've done fine on our own. You don't have to leave, we'll stay with you."

The younger teen lowered his head at his friends words, they really meant a lot to him-_more than they knew_.

Glancing around, memories flashed in front of him of the three playing in this very house, while Taka and Sasumes parents watched. Of the first time he was introduced to his new home, of the cold nights, and the nightmares. Memories good and bad drifted through his mind as he scanned the small apartment, until it stopped on a single portrait.

One of the three of them, holding hands in the park. He had a bright grin, Sasume was smiling kindly, and Taka had a kind smile. It was his favorite picture of them, it was his most prized possession. "

_They haven't asked once to find their families since all of this started, instead they stayed with me.._" he mused "_If we stay here, I'd only be risking their lives._"

Walking forward, he extended his arm and lightly touched the picture of the them, tears beginning to line up on the corners of his eyes.

"_I just want to keep them safe.._"

He reached into his shirt, and gripped the newly placed necklace tightly in his hand "_Please let us be safe..please let me be strong enough.._" the teen choked on his own tears as he shut his eyes tightly.

He knew Taka and Sasume were watching him, and he hated himself for letting his tears fall..but he couldn't help it, this place, this was the only comfort he knew outside of his friends.

Sen snapped his eyes open when he felt two hands place themselves over his own-deep blue eyes turned to lock with dark brown and teal, as Taka and Sasume smiled kindly at their friend, tears of their own trailing down their faces. This wasn't just a house, it was a house they had built together, they had made warm together, a _home_ they had made together.

From inside of the bathroom, Naruto smiled softly as he leaned on the door.

"_These kids remind me of us..Sasuke..Sakura._"

The blonde turned to stare at his reflection in the mirror, his eyes were baggy, and he seemed a bit pale, signs that he was near exhaustion. He'd been at it non-stop for almost a week now with almost no rest and even he couldn't take much more before his body had to shut down from sheer overwork, not to mental the mental stress.

"_Just a little more, once I get to Sayas I can finally rest._"

* * *

Takashi swallowed the small bit of annoyance he felt as he watched the two men carrying the sofa walk away, their words still haunting his brain.

"A job for an Adult." he mused quietly.

Nothing changed, after all he and the group had been through, once they reached a safe place they went back to being helpless children in the eyes of the older men and women. The thought of it actually stirred some feelings of rage inside of him, they deserved respect, _he_ deserved respect!

His mental rant was cut off at the sound of quiet footsteps.

Turning around, the dark haired teen couldn't help but blush at the beauty before him.

Saeko, in all her glory stood before him, a traditional Kimono wrapped around her curvaceous form while her long hair fell across her back-she looked like an ancient Japanese princess.

"What's wrong?" the female Samurai asked, a small smile on her face.

Takashi smiled weakly, and stuttered as he spoke.

"N-Nothing...uhh..." he paused and stared at the ground, the blush intensifying "You look nice."

Saekos normally calm facade was broken by the slight blush on her pale cheeks, she wasn't used to getting compliments from other males, even though she knew she was attractive, her reputation as a skilled swords woman steered off most males away.

Noticing the blush, Takashi snapped his head up and gave her an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything bad by it!" the dark haired teen stated quickly.

Saeko shook her head slightly, and gave him a small smile "Don't worry, it is fine. I won't take in the wrong way." the beauty spoke.

So the two stood there, a slightly awkward feeling in the air as they continued to avoid eye contact.

Luckily, they were saved in the form of the youngest member of their rag tag group.

"Onii-chan!" Alice yelled as she ran towards them, the small puppy running beside her-his tail wagging happily as he did so.

The two teens turned to her and smiled.

"Onii-chan! Did Whiskers-chan come back yet!? Zeke really misses him."

At that, the small dog barked as if he could understand what the younger girl was saying.

Takashi however fought down the small wince at the mention of the blonde, and quickly shot down any negative thoughts. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Saeko flinched as well the smile on her face suddenly growing a tad bit smaller.

Kneeling down, the dark haired male patted the little girls head.

"Whiskers-chan is fine, he'll be back before you know it."

"_I hope_." the teen added mentally.

Alice seemed to beam at the little piece of information, and nodded happily.

Saeko smiled at the little girl, her thoughts on her bright smile.

"_To be as innocent as her, and having to live in a world like this. How many other children have fallen to those creatures, how many have had their innocence taken from them_."

The very thought was enough to make her sick, and to think she wanted to leave this little girl to die, because of her own fears.

Samurai fear nothing!

"_And yet, I fear the darkness inside of me.._" she mused.

The familiar voices of Saya and Kohta brought all of the attention to a near by door, from which the two stepped out to join the three.

"Saya-chan! Kohta-chan!" Alice cried excitedly.

The pink haired girl gave the smaller child a smile, while Kohta gave a wide grin and extended his arm. Alice rushed towards the chubbier boy, and gave him a bright high five laughing as she did so.

Takashi and Saeko could only smile at the scene, Alice had taken a liking to Kohta, as he was the one who would play with her the most. The brown haired teen turned from the scene, only to face the now frowning face of Saya as she crossed her arms over her ample chest.

"Uhh." the teen began, only to be interrupted.

"We need to talk." Saya stated.

Takashi sent her a questioning glance, but nodded none the less, the look in her eyes gave no room for protest. Sayas eyes shifted to Saeko.

"All of us."

The violet haired swords woman gave her a small nod.

"Oh! Can Alice and Zeke come too!?" the young girl exclaimed.

Kohta gave her a bright grin and a nod.

"Of course! You two are part of our group as well!"

Saya looked like she wanted to protest, but let it go, there was no time to waste.

"We should talk in Reis room, she can't move right now." Takashi suggested.

"Alright, gather everyone and meet there in ten minutes." Saya responded as she walked past the teen.

Takashi gave Kohta a glance, one he understood perfectly.

"I don't know what she wants to talk about, we'll just have to see." he responded as he stood from his kneeling position, Alice by his side.

"What about Naruto though?" the gun expert asked.

Saeko and Takashi spared a glance.

"You're right. We'll talk to her in Reis room, he's apart of our group too."

With a nod, the four plus the small animal made their way towards the incapacitated girls room.

* * *

"Holy shit.." Taka, Sasume, and Sen mumbled simultaneously as they watched the blonde pile the last of the bodies on top of an already large pile of corpses he had made.

"That should do it. We're all clear from here to the next block, we'll walk to attract less attention to ourselves."

The three younger teens only nodded, completely in shock at what they had just witnessed. The blonde had torn through thirty of the infected in less than five minute without breaking a sweat...thirty. All with the use of a kitchen knife he had picked up from Sens apartment.

"Alright kids, stick close to me, and lets go!" Naruto cried.

The three spared each other a glance, and then shrugged and followed the taller blonde.

"_Man, after fighting that bone monster thing. The regular one's are nothing but moving targets. Hell, I even feel stronger for some reason!_" the whiskered teen mused mentally.

"_**You're exercising your Chakra coils more**_."

"Huh!? Kyubi!?" the teen cried aloud.

"Shut up blondie!" Taka hissed.

Sen glared daggers into the blondes head, while Sasume pinched the bridge of her nose as she sighed. Good thing they were too preoccupied with their own safety to actually pay attention to what the blonde said.

"_**Way to go brat. You've succeeded in adopting three other brats and looking like a fool in front of them.**_"

"_Shut up Baka-fox! Why are you even in my head, shouldn't you be napping?_"

It was strange, the Kyubi only ever spoke to him when there was a dire situation, or if he was training him. So for it to just randomly answer a question of his was strange.

"_And what do you mean exercise my Chakra coils?_" He could hear the fox snort in his mind.

"_**You're still as ignorant as always. Now that you've been forced to push your Chakra coils to their limitations, more of the Rift energy has been circulating through them. Granted it's been tearing your organs to shreds, which by the way is a bitch to be constantly healing. But it serves the purpose of allowing you a small amount of strength every time you do it.**_"

"_What!? Why didn't I just do that years ago!? Why didn't you tell me I could do that in the first place? I would have been at full strength by now!_"

The fox grumbled lowly to himself from within the seal.

"_**Yes, but then you would have fried yourself by the end of the month. The only reason you're even gaining any power back is because you're body has been growing as you have aged, so therefor, so have your Charka coils. The bigger they are, the more room there is for Chakra to flow, and the less room for the Rift energy.**_"

"_So, that means?.._"

Kyubi sighed and resisted the urge to smack his jailer for his ignorance.

"_**It means, once we proceed with the Chakra overload. A good amount of your strength should be returned to you, we'll have to see how the Rift energy takes place in all of this however.**_"

Naruto furrowed his brow.

"_What do you mean, I thought you said it would leave my body?_"

"_**Yes, but it's also infused with your Chakra, it could make you stronger..or it could send you spiraling off into another dimension, or transport you back to the dimensional tear. Depends on how lucky you are.**_"

The blonde went pale as ghost, and swallowed the lump that had built up in his throat, returning to the dimensional tear was the last thing he wanted to do, but dimensional jumping seemed very interesting.

"_Are you saying that if I learn how to use the Rift energy, I could return home?_"

"_**Who knows.**_" Kyubi responded casually.

The teen raised an eyebrow at the foxes sudden change in attitude, however, he was completely oblivious to the strange looks he was receiving from the three pre-teens with him as his facial expressions changed every few seconds.

"Is he okay?" Sen whispered to Taka.

"I don't know, way to pick them idiot, he's freaking loony!" the other boy whispered back heatedly.

Sasume flicked the two on the arm, and shushed them both.

"Quiet, we'll worry about his mental health later. For now focus on the task at hand!"

The two teens shared a look.

"_Stay focused she says, he's not even paying attention!_"

The three suddenly halted as a line of cars, trucks, and even motor bikes flew past them, at the center was a black stylish car that looked to be able to seat six in total.

Sen whistled as they approached at high speeds, any of the infected unfortunate enough to be in their way was crushed by the large truck in the front, or shot down with silenced pistols by the two bikes next to it. The first three vehicles passed, but the center one suddenly stopped right in front of them, which caused all of the cars to stop as well.

The three pre-teens tensed as the door opened, Sen holding the gun in his hand tightly as he aimed it at whoever or whatever was about to step out. Unfortunately for him, multiple guns were pointed at them at the same time.

So either way, it seemed like they were screwed.

"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise." a deep baritone voice spoke from inside the car.

"_So you're telling me, that you guys actually have genders?_"

"_**Well, yes and no. We choose what we want to be, for example, Nibi chose to be a female. While I choose to be male.**_"

Naruto hummed to himself as the random piece of information.

"_That so? So if you have a gender, does that mean you have a name too?_" he asked.

**"**_**That's personal information brat. Heads up though, you've got company.**_"

Naruto finally snapped out of his inner conversation and took his body off 'auto-pilot' as he called it. He then noticed the huge swarm of vehicles surrounding him and the others, as well as the familiar-and imposing-figure approaching him.

"Holy shit.." Sen mumbled for the second time as the huge man walked calmly past the three and towards the now nervous looking blonde.

"Naruto, why is it that you're here and not with Saya?" the man asked.

Blue eyes met a bright orange, and Naruto seemed to shrink under the mans hard gaze.

"I can explain." he mumbled weakly.

"In the car, now." the taller man spoke, leaving no room for argument as he pointed towards the open car door.

"Dammit.." he whispered as he dragged himself to the car.

"Come on kids, we're getting a ride."

The three shared a glance, then back to Naruto, and finally to the tall imposing man with the blade strapped to his hip. It wasn't hard to make a choice as they rushed inside the car, not wanting to face the seemingly angered strangers wrath.

"Is he your dad or something?" Taka asked as Naruto stepped into the car and took the only open seat, which happened to be next to the imposing man, while Sen, Sasume, and Taka took the other side.

The car itself was designed like a limo so their was enough space for all, the back seat having two couch like seats facing each other with a small table in the middle.

"Might as well be." the blonde whispered back.

"He's...sorta scary." Sasume commented, the other two pre-teens nodding.

No more words were spoken as the man entered the car and shut the door and sat next to the now sweating blonde.

"So Naruto, are you not going to introduce me?"

The blonde gave a nervous grin and nodded.

"Guys, I'd like for you to meet my caretaker, Takagi Souchiro."

"Pleasure." Souchiro spoke.

His voice was hard and commanded respect, something the three teens gave to him without a thought.

"Nice to meet you Takagi-sama!" they spoke in unison.

The man gave a small nod, then turned his sharp eyes to the squirming blonde.

"What a coincidence that we meet up like this Naruto, I do hope you have a good reason as to why you're here and not protecting my daughter."

The blonde nodded quickly, and as the car started and began to move, he prayed to whatever God for mercy. If there was one thing he had learned about the man before him, it was that he loved his daughter, and with the recent events and the task placed upon him by sed man..well..

"_I hope he believes in giant bone wielding mutated monsters._"

"She's safe. I promise, you know I wouldn't let anything happen to her." the blonde responded.

The older Takagi nodded once more.

"I never questioned your ability to keep her safe, what I'm asking is why you are not by her side."

The three pre-teens watched the exchange in silence, debating on whether to be fearful or amused as they watched the normally fearless-_and insane_-blonde squirm under the older mans eyes.

"This is going to be a long ride home.." the teen whispered.

* * *

The whole group crowed into the spacious room. Kyoko and Yuuki chose to stand near the bed, beside Saeko where Rei laid in pain, blushing in embarrassment at all of the present people that witnessed her half naked body under the sheets.

Shizuka stood next to Kohta and Alice, who cuddled Zeke close to her. The gun crazed teen was resisting the urge to stare as the busty nurse pealed a banana and ate it in a very...provocative way, at least in his mind. Finally, Takashi chose to stare at the back of his pink haired friend as she stared across the yard from the window.

"So..what's this all about?" he asked.

Saya sighed, and crossed her arms.

"The next time we head out...I don't think I'll be going with you guys."

Most eyes widened, while Kyoko narrowed her own at the girls proclamation. Yuuki didn't seemed very fazed by her choice, as to her it made good sense.

"_We're in a bigger group now. I'd stay if I was her as well.._" the short haired beauty mused mentally.

As if reading her mind, Saeko spoke up with the same conclusion.

"Of course. Now that we've banded with a bigger group.." Saya turned to them, and gave a quick nod.

"Yes, I have two choices. Can you understand that!?" she yelled.

The pink haired teen was never good at things like this, so her more _aggressive_ side came out in an effort to protect herself.

"Split up?.." Takashi whispered "Hold on! We're not all here! We should wait for Naruto if we're going to discuss something like this!" the teen finished, his voice growing in volume.

There were a few nods from the room, but the girl genius just scoffed.

"If he even comes back. He could be-"

"Don't even!" Takashi interrupted dangerously, his eyes narrowed in anger.

No one had said it, but they all couldn't hep but face the idea that the blonde might actually be..dead. It was a thought that made most of them feel very uncomfortable, but in the situation they were in they had to face reality.

"Takagi-san, you must not think like that." Shizuka mumbled.

The pink haired teen turned her sharp eyes to the busty nurse.

"Stay out of this Sensei!" she barked.

"Takagi-san that's enough!" Saeko spoke, her voice firm.

The genius girl clenched her hands and lowered her head, shaking in what seemed to be pure rage, a combination of all of the frustrations she had been feeling lately.

"Don't you see.." she whispered.

"Look around!" she exclaimed, raising her head to glare at all of them "If you still don't understand then you're all fools!"

The group turned their eyes to to visible streets, all infested with the walking dead, some still ripping apart the poor victims that they managed to get their hands on. It wasn't just that however, the small camp they had set up in the front of the house full of survivors. Parents hugging their children, men and women yelling in outrage. The tension was almost visible.

"The world we know is gone..this is all that remains, and it's only going to get worse. Do you really think that we can survive on our own!?" she asked, tears beginning to leak from her eyes.

The others watched the exchange with a bit of sadness in their eyes, they all felt what she felt in a way. Could they really survive? They had barely made it here safely.

"Takagi.."

"Call me by my first name!" she snapped.

Takashi flinched, then sighed.

"I don't know if we can survive...but we've done well so far. We're alive."

The girl snarled.

"The only reason we're alive is because of my _parents _and Naruto."

The dark haired boy growled, he was beginning to grow annoyed with her attitude. He always knew she had issues with her parents, but to him it seemed like she was blaming them for everything. After the talk he had with her mom, he knew they cared for her more than anything, in truth she was acting like a brat.

"_At least she knows her parents are safe.._" the teen thought darkly.

"Your mom and dad-"

"Are perfect! I know!" the pink haired teen couldn't help it, she knew it was wrong, but she just couldn't stop "They're amazing, and they have a lot to be proud of! I get it! Even in situations like these, they stood up and took control, saving countless lives!"

Saya suddenly stopped yelling, and unlatched her hands as her eyes took on a sadder tone.

"Too busy saving anyone else they couldn't even bother to look for their own daughter.." she whispered.

Takashi had enough.

"Stop it Saya!" he roared, grabbing the girl by the front of her shirt and pulling her up, glaring into her eyes.

Everyone was silent as the scene unfolded, even Saya was at a loss for words as she stared into dark brown eyes.

"Don't you think we're all having a tough time! We're all in the same boat here! So wake up!"

From around the room, the younger females and male looked down, most of them feeling the same fear and worry. Even if their parents were away, after the news broadcast and the discovery that the whole world had become infected by this outbreak..well, there wasn't much hope left.

Saya closed her eyes, and sighed.

"Okay...I get it. You can let me go now." She whispered.

Yuuki narrowed her eyes at the girl, while glancing around the room taking in everyone's expressions.

"_Tch, pathetic. They'll be dead soon if they keep this up._" she thought to herself.

The only reason she was here was because of the blonde, and that was because he was the strongest. With him most likely dead, her best chance was to stay with the bigger group now.

"_That idiot blonde had to play hero. Oh well, people like that don't live long anyways._" she smirked mentally "_Too bad, he had quite the body. I wouldn't mind going a few rounds with him._"

While she was lost in thought however, she never noticed two pairs of eyes watching her closely.

"_She's up to something.._" Kyoko mused with her eyes narrowed.

Even in School, Yuuki was never on her good side. The girl had joined the Ping Pong Club, and a few weeks later all of the males in the group were her slaves broken by her flirtatious ways. Because of that, they boys team had lost the Championship game the next day, and after that she quit.

"_Miku Yuuki.._" Saeko thought to herself.

The girl was smart, but the look in her eyes put her on the edge. She was like a cunning snake, whispering sweet nothings..and when you were close enough.

She struck.

"Sorry.." Takashi spoke as he backed off. All thoughts were cut off as they returned to the matter at hand.

Saya gave a small smile, and brushed fixed her glasses.

"It's fine..now back to the matter at-"

"Open the Gate!" a voice yelled from outside.

Looking down, they watched as men and women scattered everywhere while multiple cars entered the lot. Sayas eyes widened as the middle car stopped, and the door opened.

"Is that?.." Takashi whispered.

By now, everyone had crowded around the window to see.

From the door, three young teens stepped out, each looking nervous and confused.

"Who are they Takagi-san?" Kohta asked.

"I don't know.." she whispered in return, slightly confused.

After them, two figures stepped out, the first being slightly shorter than the second. All at once, eyes widened as a familiar mop of blonde hair could be see walking side by side to a much taller and imposing man, while the three kids walked behind them.

"Naruto!" Takashi and Kohta cried aloud, wide grins on their faces.

Saeko felt a smile wash over her face, and relief flood through her body at the sigh of the blonde, even Rei felt a wide grin fall across her face. Shizuka almost cried as she bounced up and down, her breasts swaying as she squealed in glee at the blondes the sight of the blondes whiskered face. Alice jumped with her, while Zeke just barked at the sigh of a happy Alice.

Kyoko however flinched at seeing the teen, the memory of what happened in the laundry room still fresh in her mind.

_ "I need to talk to him.._" she thought.

Yuuki herself was smirking.

"_Well, that's interesting._" she mused.

Saya herself looked about ready to cry.

"You're alive..idiot." she whispered.

As everyone rushed down stairs, some faster than others, Saya stood at the window still staring at the blondes figure.

"Takashi." she spoke, stopping the teen just as he was about to leave as well.

"Huh? Yeah?" he asked, his smile still in place.

Saya turned and walked towards him, her relived expression replaced with a more serious one.

"It's time we get some answers from him." she whispered so that Rei wouldn't hear.

The teens dark brown eyes winded, and he paused.

"_Was it time? The last time I wanted answers he wasn't t keen on answering._" he was reminded of the park and of Narutos betrayed glare.

"I know what you're thinking..I was awake when you and him had that talk, I just couldn't move-but it's now or never!" she whispered hotly.

The dark haired teen nodded slowly, and turned to glance at the now grinning blonde as he talked to the three younger teens.

"You're right." he whispered in return.

From the bed however, Rei narrowed her eyes as she heard a part of their conversation.

"_What is Naruto hiding? They mentioned the park, that means they were there when the 'shooting' happened.._" she thought as she furrowed her brow "_I think it's time I get to know Uzumaki Naruto a little better._"

Once she was up and moving, the blonde mystery would be spilling whatever it was he was hiding, and if it threatened Takashi in anyway, then she needed to end it then and there.

* * *

"Fuck!" Sasuke grunted as he ducked another bony appendage.

The weapon in his hand was out of ammo, and he was all the way on the other side of the Airport.

"I can't let this thing get near the civilians or the team."

Glancing around for anyone that could have been potentially watching the battle and sensing no one, he nodded to himself.

"_Sharingan!_"

His dark eyes morphed into a crimson red, three coma like marks spinning wildly around the pupil.

"I bet Naruto isn't dealing with this shit!" he grunted, swallowing the rush of blood that flooded his esophagus as he charged up Chakra into his hand, the familiar sound of chirping birds assaulting him. Dark markings began to run over half of his face as he entered his Level One Cursed Seal stage.

"_I've got one shot. Damn this handicap!_" the Uchiha thought.

The beast before him gave a loud roar before rushing towards the shorter ex-Shinobi, the bone like weapon in his hand aimed to tear him in half.

"**Chidori!**" the teen cried as he rushed forward, the Chakra like blade tearing the ground underneath it apart.

Sasuke jumped high into the air, landing over the huge muscular arm of the creature before crouching and cocking his arm back, then without a seconds hesitation, slamming the energy coated limb into the beasts face, watching as it tore through bone, flesh, and muscle. The creature gave out a roar as its body glowed a white color, before the energy drifted off into the sky and the body dropped to the ground.

The Uchiha removed his hand from the now dead monsters face and snarled at the bloody appendage, before turning his now normal eyes back to the creature.

"What the fuck is happening?.." he whispered.

He needed to find Naruto soon.

* * *

**A/N There it is, hope you liked it. Things are starting to heat up, and Naruto is going to be having a lot of awkward talks soon. It seems like Rei is becoming interested as well, we'll have to see what happens with that. Anyways, sorry for the delay once again. I'd like to take this time to answer some questions. **

**What is the Tenkai(_Heavens Release_)?**

**The Tenaki is my stories version of Sage Mode, although weaker. I took the concept of the Eight Gates, and reversed it. To a normal human, it would rip them apart because of the stress it puts on the Chakra coils, but since the Uzumaki have the healing factor. They can use it. It works by expanding the muscles and the Chakra coils, increasing the strength, speed, reaction time, ect, of the user. When using its three main attacks, such as 'Heavens Judgment' which can be used with any limb by thinning out the Chakra coils, and transferring all of the available Chakra to one limb, without killing the user for a powerful attack, kind of like how Naruto punched Haku. That's the basic concept, but it stressed out the body, and does weaken the user considerably after use. **

**Sasuke?**

**Sasuke cannot access Chakra fully, just like Naruto, he has the same handicap as you can see. He can activate the Sharingan, just as Naruto can activate the Rinnegan. He will play a major role in the future, and I'm not sure about his pairings, or if he will have any yet. Him and Naruto are on good terms, or will be after they meet again. He's searching for Naruto, and doesn't believe him to be dead. He does have Rift Energy in his system, but it has affected him differently. You'll just have to wait to see. **

**Pairings? **

**Like I said before, there will be a lot of triangles, and as you can see there are a lot of possibilities for Naruto and pairings. Takashi and Kohta will have their women as well, don't worry.**

**Anyways, I hope you guys liked it! Review, I'd appreciate to know what you think, later! **


End file.
